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"One dollar and a half, ma^am ; cheap at that.” (Page 61.) 




The Story of Delight 


BY 

/ 

EVELYN RAYMOND 
M 

AUTHOR OF 

Daughter of the Westf “ The Boys and Girls of Branthamf 
“ My Lady Barefoot ” 




BOSTON 

A. I. BRADLEY & CO 

1900 

V. 



42835 


y of CorigreM 

‘‘Vkv top<£i Received 

SEP 4 1900 

Copyright wtry 

SECOND COPY. 

D«<tvtr«t to 

OROtR DIVISION, 

S EP 5 I90U 


H 


^ X • 


Copyright, 1900 
By a. I. Bradley & Co 

74174 


r 


00 -^ 77 ^ 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER PAGE 

I. A Quiet Haven . . . .5 

II. Farewells ..... 15 

III. The Sail to Toddington . . .29 

IV. Novel Experiences ... 35 

V. A Perplexing Return . . .46 

VI. Happy Haven .... 59 

VII. In the Stillness of the Night . . 66 

VIII. The Hudson Household ... 77 

IX. Lost and Found . . . .94 

X. Bid Palmer Hudson Come to Me . 102 

XI. Delight and Her Guardian . . 112 

XII. That, too, is Lost .... 121 

XIII. An Heirloom’s Command . . . 127 

XIV. It Might be Santa Claus . . 136 

XV. Maria Arrives .... 146 

XVI. A Dreary Christmas Eve . . 157 

XVII. The Dawning of Christmas . . 170 

XVIII. Delight is Missing . . . 179 

XIX, A Chance Meeting .... 194 
XX. Demand and Refusal . . . 202 

XXL Peach Alley ..... 212 
XXII. A Visitor to Harmony Street . . 219 

XXIII. Beginning the Search . . . 227 

XXIV. When All the World was Still . 241 

XXV. Delight’s Captivity .... 246 

XXVI. Captain Harriet Again . . . 255 

XXVII. An Eventful Morning . . .262 

XXVIII. The Amateur Detective . . 271 


3 


4 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER 


PAGE 

XXIX. 

Mr. Waters’ Opinion 

. 279 

XXX. 

Master in His Own House 

283 

XXXI. 

Mr. Waters’ Theory 

. 288 

XXXII. 

Captain Harriet’s Letter 

296 

XXXIII. 

George Explains Some Things 

. 302 

XXXIV. 

Maria Gets a New Tin Oven 

. 309 

XXXV. 

In Cap and Gown.— Conclusion 

317 


The Story of Delight. 


CHAPTER I. 

A QUIET HAVEN. 

It was on an afternoon of late November, 
while there yet lingered in the air a faint warmth 
of Indian summer, that Delight Koloson climbed, 
for the last time, the straggling street of Seabury 
village, from the rock-strewn beach below to 
Prospect Hill above. 

A sunset of unusual brilliancy touched with a 
crimson glow the Aveather-beaten, unpainted cot- 
tages lining the way and transformed their 
ugliness into something like beauty. Though 
Delight was quite unconscious that they were 
ugly and fancied, as her gaze rested tenderly 
upon one after another, that nowhere on this 
earth could be a spot so charming. For she 
loved them and their indwellers, each and all, 
and in the sight of love nothing is ugly. 

The old stone church and schoolhouse, crown- 

5 


6 


THE STORY OF DELIGHT. 


ing the Hill, sheltered between their white- 
washed sides a well-filled burying-ground ; and 
it was toward a week-old mound within this 
graveyard that the girl was now hurrying. 

Her arms were full of great snowy chrysanthe- 
mums, heaped with such reckless profusion as 
almost to hide her own face, and Esther Marlow 
remarked, as she passed : 

‘‘ Looks like she’d torn ’em up root an’ branch. 
Well, the old garden will go to waste now, I 
guess. But I’m sorry for the child with all my 
heart ; an’ for us, too.” 

“ Seabury won’t know itself, nor want to, 
without a Koloson in it,” chimed in the cobbler, 
“ Bachelor Jim,” from his seat beside her door^ 
Avhere he had paused “ to talk it over ” ; though 
the subject had already been discussed from 
every point of view. “Here they’ve been, first 
and foremost, ever since the original father of 
the whole kit came and built his house down 
there in the cove. Well, he did come over in 
the Mayfloiver, and no mistake. Brought his 
famous chest of drawers with him, or his wife 
did, and here they’ve been ever since.” 

“Tut, tut, man! You’re away out in your 
story. He came in the famous ship, true 
enough, but he brought neither wife nor fur- 
niture with him. He was a bit of a boy, then, 
and a good many other pilgrims liiul followed 


A QUIET HAVEN. 


7 


the first ones before he found either the one or 
the other. The records say he was even nearing 
sixty when he married.” 

“ A good ninety when he went. They’re a 
long-lived race, these Ilolosons. This one just 
gone — was she his granddaughter or great ? — 
a round ninety-six.” 

“Ninety-seven she would have been come 
next Fast day. A pity she couldn’t have 
finished the hundred measure. But the Lord 
knows best. Odd, isn’t it? I’m only seventy, 
yet I’ve felt old this twenty winters, while she 
never did, not a minute. I allow, either here or 
anywhere else, there have been few livings and 
dyings like Aunt Delight Eoloson’s.” 

“ Eight you are, neighbor,” affirmed Widow 
Winston, who had also hobbled across the street 
to hear a bit of gossip and to be the handier for 
the last farewell when the girl who had gone 
up the hill should come down again. “ Eight 
you are. Her ‘ passing ’ suited a Eoloson. Sit- 
ting in her own chair, gazing at the sunset she so 
loved, peaceful as a baby, with the light on her 
face, and smiling. Truly, she but stepped from 
one room into the next — only — she took all my 
da3dight with her ! ” 

The words ended in a wail and the feeble 
creature, who, more than any other, would miss 
both the one who had gone and the one who was 


8 


THE STORY OF DELIGHT. 


going, limped back into her lonely cottage and 
closed the door. 

“ She was a saint, dear Aunt Delight ! ” sighed 
Esther, reverently. “And this Delight will be 
another.” 

“ Saint ? She ? Up yon ? Not a bit of it. 
She’ll be all human, every atom of her. The 
best sort, after all, for this world. Many’s the 
tongue-lashing she’s given me, already, and she 
not more than a dozen years old, is she ? ” asked 
the cobbler. 

“Fifteen last month and looks every day 
of it. The most womanly girl in Seabury town- 
ship.” 

“ Which isn’t saying so much, considering 
there’s no more than a dozen young folks under 
twenty left in it. Came over me like a sort of a 
thunder-clap, this very morning, as I was half- 
soling Cap’n Danforth’s Sunday boots, what a 
forsaken, out-of-the-way town Seabury’s got to be. 
Why, in all the houses here, the families number 
but two or three. Time was when things were 
different.” 

It was not often that “ Bachelor Jim ” moral- 
ized. He was commonly a jolly soul, of not too 
temperate habits, who took life and “little De- 
light’s ” “ tongue-lashings ” with a cheerful indif- 
ference. Just now a heaviness had come upon 
him, remembering that when he lapsed from so- 


A QUIET HAVEN. 


9 


briety next time — as he was sure to do— there 
would be no clear-voiced girl to reprimand him 
and “ set him on his feet again.” 

Esther Marlow’s eyes followed his gaze down- 
ward and upward over the little town where both 
had always dwelt. On the beach were stranded 
the hulls of long-decaying vessels, which they re- 
membered to have seen set sail for other waters on 
many a prosperous whaling voyage. The once 
staunch wharves were hopelessly out of repair, 
though close to one of these rocked a smart little 
fishing smack all ready for sailing on what, to 
the Seaburyites, was the most important trip of 
many a day. F or wasn’t she to carry from among 
them, probably forever, the last of all the Eolo- 
sons ? 

“ Yes. Trade and travel have long passed us 
by. The nearest railroad is a dozen miles off, and 
even the stage has cut down its trips to two a 
week. When I was a girl they were two a day 
and I used to think the sound of the coach horn, 
coming down over Prospect Hill, was the most 
exciting music in the world. I guess, ‘ Bachelor 
Jim,’ that Seabury is now a better place to go 
away from than it is to stay in. For those who 
have anywhere to go,” she concluded witli a sigh. 

The cobbler echoed the sigh then laughed. 
“After all, Esther, neither you nor I would be 
satisfied anywhere else. It’s quiet here, and 


10 


THE STORY OF DELIGHT, 


peaceful. Same kind of human natur’, too. 
Once I was in Boston city ; and I thought I’d 
clean lose what little wit I had, with the racket 
and confusion all around. There’s other places 
just as bad, too ; even this Chester, where Delight 
is going, has electric street cars, theatres, and 
more churches than you can shake a stick at.” 

“ Thank you, I’ve better fish to fry than 
shaking sticks at any church, even those that 
aren’t orthodox. Speaking of churches, there 
comes the pastor’s wife this minute, and here I’ve 
sat gossiping and grieving and left all my dust- 
ing. She so particular, too ! ” 

Now dressmaker Esther Marlow’s little front 
room was the common meeting ground of all the 
village wives ; being convenient to the store, 
which was also post office, and half-way the 
length of the hill-street. In it all the affairs of 
the little township were fully discussed ; here 
were held the society meetings of the church ; 
and to this familiar room Delight Koloson would 
be certain to return to make her last farewells. 
So here now congregated all of those who could, 
that loved and would miss her, from the store- 
keeper’s wife down to the few young folks who 
were not yet old enough to go away and seek 
their fortunes in a broader field. 

Meanwhile, up in the ancient burying-ground, 
the girl, for whom all this friendly ovation, had 


A QUIET HAVEN. 


11 


finished her loving task. The gaping cracks be- 
tween the fresh cut sods had all been hidden by 
the snowy “Christ flowers,” which she who lay 
beneath them had once so loved and rising from 
her knees Delight murmured, sadly : 

“ There. That’s the very last I can do, auntie 
darling. There’s nothing left now but — to go.” 

“ Belike, the very hardest thing of all,” said a 
harsh, though kindly, voice, close by. 

Delight turned eagerly : 

“ Captain Harriet, thee here ! Then I’m glad, 
for it will spare me going to the cottage.” 

“ I’m liker here than elsewhere, as you know, 
lassie, save the weather is too bitter. And as for 
giving up a visit to the house, that will never do.” 

“ I was told to hurry. Captain Danforth ” 

“ Must even put that quick temper of his in his 
pocket. Though, do the man justice, he, nor none, 
will be overhasty to carry the last of the Rolo- 
sons away from her home. There’s a matter on 
my mate’s mind that will not rest till he’s seen 
and told it to you. A sort of secret, he claims, 
though I warn you it may be naught but a sick 
man’s whim.” 

“ A secret ? For me ? How strange.” 

“ That’s as proves. I know not. I asked 
nought. But, if you’re done, come away to him. 
Indeed, you’ve made this spot a pretty sight to 
see. And when the posies fode, as fade they 


12 


THE STORY OF DELIGHT. 


will, ni see to it that the rubbish is all clean 
carried away.” 

“ That’s my errand to thee, Captain Harriet ; ” 
and as she spoke. Delight pulled from her pocket 
an old-fashioned wallet, bound round with a soft 
leather strap. “ Auntie gave me this, last win- 
ter, when she feared she might not stay with 
me longer than the spring. Thee knows how she 
would always have this dear old place kept tidy 
and trim. Well, in here is the money to pay 
thee, or anybody thee’ll hire, to keep it so. 
When it is gone, I hope I may send more. I 
don’t know how much is in it, for she fastened 
the purse and I — I can’t undo it to see. That is, 
I’d rather not ; but, of course, thee’ll look, and 
reckon how long it will last.” 

For a moment Captain Harriet did not reply. 
She was a tall, spare woman, whose angular 
frame was scantily clad in a faded denim gown. 
A crimson shawl was pinned about her shoulders, 
and her rough grey hair was crowned by a dingy 
^‘sou’wester,” once her sailor husband’s. This 
was her only headgear and she wore it both in- 
doors and out. 

She now stood leaning on her spade handle, 
and regarding the astonished girl with a growing 
anger in her dark, shrewd eyes. 

“And is it to me — to me — that a Koloson 
offers pay for doing her duty and her pleasure ? 


A QUIET HA YEN. 


13 


Have I been sexton and gravedigger these 
twenty years, in Seabury township, and ever 
taken a cent beyond my wage for this ? ” sweep- 
ing her hard hand about, as if to emphasize the 
neatness of the place. “ Where’s the garden in 
this village is kept like my ground, here ? Child, 
child, you’ve given me a blow.” 

The anger died out of her face and a look of 
keen distress took its place. This was too much 
for Delight’s composure ; and flinging her arms 
around the old woman’s shoulder she sobbed in 
the misery of her own grief. 

“There, there, lassie. Cry no more. She 
meant it well. She meant it well, no doubt ; nor 
ever for a minute saw that it was a stab she gave, 
and not a blessing. Why, who was it but her- 
self, when my Enoch came home from his last 
voyage, broken and wrecked like those old ships 
down below — that went about among the folks 
and got consent he should be made sexton of 
Seabury for the rest of his life. Nor he, with 
his rheumatics and queer-headedness, being fit to 
keep even such a job what would have befell us 
but for her ? I mind it was but yesterday ; she 
came and took me to the parson’s and spoke the 
good word for me. ‘ Harriet’s as good a skipper 
as Enoch,’ said she. ‘ Can sail a boat or ring the 
meeting bell, or dig as square a grave. Give her 
the place, it’s all the same,’ said she, ‘ and I’ll go 


14 


THE STORY OF DELIGHT. 


bail her duty’ll be well done.’ Hasn’t it, what 
she promised for me ? ” 

“Yes, yes. Captain Harriet. Yes, indeed. 
But, maybe, she thought of harder times and 

thee needing Thee knows she loved thee, old 

friend. She wouldn’t have hurt thee, no, not for 
all the money in the world.” 

“Ho, she wouldn’t,” answered the grave- 
digger, now consoled. “ And I’ve a good thought 
in the matter. Let us take this money and use it 
for her. She’s the last of her house to be resting 
here, and the dearest. I’ll step across to Bills- 
town and there I’ll buy a tidy iron fence to put 
around her grave. That’ll mark it special from 
the rest ; and it’ll comfort us both to know she’s 
tucked in all safe and snug before the winter 
comes.” 

“ Oh ! will thee ? I’d like that. But — would 
she f ” 

“ Liked she not always what made you happy ? 
It shall be done. But come now to Enoch. Else, 
he’ll maybe even rise and leave his bed. Who 
guesses ? ” 

“ Then, indeed, I’d best not go ! ” cried De- 
light, with something like her natural mirthful- 
ness. 

Whereupon, with an answering grimace, Cap- 
tain Harriet tucked the girl’s arm under her own 
and strode away to the cottage. 


CHAPTEE IL 


FAREWELLS. 

“ Cap’n Enoch ” lay in his “ bunk ” before 
the cottage window. Everything about him was 
scrupulously neat and shipshape, as befitted a 
disabled seaman ; but the total absence of all 
save actual necessaries gave the low room a hard 
bare look. 

Delight, born and reared in the sunny, many- 
windowed “ Snuggery,” always fancied she felt 
a chill whenever she entered the place ; and she 
now realized the first pleasure of her going away 
in the thought : 

“ I shall not have to come here any more.” 

“ Tumph ! Took your reck’nin’ so’s to sail 
without touchin’ this port again, hey ? Tumph. 
Needn’t think I’m quite like one o’ them old ships 
down below, just a good-for-naught cast up by 
the tide. There’s a power o’ life left in me yet, 
I tell ye. So you was goin’ without salutin’, 
was 3^e ? Though I ordered Harriet to tow you 
here, wind or weather.” 

Delight had always disliked old Enoch, though 
all her life she had still been accustomed to 
15 


16 


THE STORY OF DELIGHT. 


visiting and helping him as she could. However, 
this had been at Aunt Delight’s desire and not of 
her own free will. She answered gently, now, 
moved by a feeling of pity for him and for his 
nobler wife : 

“ Oh ! no, indeed. Surely, thee knows I 
wouldn’t go without farewell, except I had not 
time left for it.” 

“ I should say not. Hot if you know which 
side your bread’s buttered ! ” 

“ Which is more nor you seem to do, mate ! ” 
retorted Captain Harriet, with more spirit than 
she often showed toward him, as she stooped and 
picked from the rag-woven rug a slice of the food 
in question. “ You’re generally hungry enough 
to keep your supper where it belongs.” 

“It’s that wuthless table. Ought to be a 
shelf, then things ’d stay put.” 

“ All right, Enoch. But little Delight’s in a 
hurry. Cap’n Danforth’s waiting an’ that’s a 
thing he hates.” 

“ Let him wait an’ hate, long’s as pleases me, 
then. Ain’t a clumsier critter afore the mast ’n 
that young Stephen Danforth. Think o’ him 
bein’ a skipper o’ any decent smack. Faugh ! 
It makes me sick ! ” 

“ W asn’t he apprenticed to thee ? I thought I’d 
heard thee say so,” remarked Delight, innocently. 

Enoch frowned and Captain Harriet smiled. 


FAREWELLS. 


17 


Then she averted a further mischance by leaving 
the room, saying : 

“Now, Enoch Legg, if you’ve any business 
with our girl here. I’ll give you five minutes to 
do it in. When the time’s up she’s going shore- 
ward and the chance past. It’s one thing for me 
to be bothered by your cantankerousness, but it’s 
quite another sort for the whole of Seabury 
township to stand and wait your pleasure.” 

“ What’s Seabury township got to do with me 
an’ my affairs ? ” demanded the old man, with a 
startled look. 

“ With you, naught. With ‘ little Delight,’ 
with the last of the Eolosons, much. Why, the 
whole community, from parson’s and store- 
keeper’s wife down, will be on the beach when 
the Emily Jane sails this night. So be quick 
about it and remember, mate, how you talk to 
the darling of a whole village.” 

Yet this had been an unwise speech for the 
gravedigger to make and she realized the fact 
as soon as it was uttered. 

“ What a foolish thing to say ! If mate thinks 
he’s important enough to keep folks dancing to 
his music he’s like to play for the rest of the 
night. Hmm. Poor fellow. Time was — but 
what’s the use of thinking. He’s mine. I took 
him of my own free will. I’ve sailed with him 
this forty years and I don’t know him yet. 


18 


THE STORY OF DELIGHT, 


Times are, when he gets these queer streaks, I’m 
almost afraid of him, myself ; yet there he lies, 
doubled up with rheumatiz, one arm and one eye 
gone, while I’m strong as the tower o’ Babel, and 
pretty near as tall ! ” 

She ended her soliloquy with a chuckle, then 
folded her arms and stood like a mighty sentinel 
outside the window, silent, till the fiv^e minutes 
past she opened the door and reentered the 
cottage. 

“ What you back for, so quick ? ” 

‘‘ Time’s up. Come, little Delight.” 

“ I ain’t half through talkin’, yet.” 

“ Time’s up.” 

“What’s all this hurry for ? I ain’t afraid o’ 
Stephen Danforth nor none o’ his crew.” 

“Why should you be, mate? Yet if the Col- 
umbine was afloat and ashore, ready to sail for 
Toddington harbor this tide, you’d be in a nasty 
temper enough if a bit of gossip hindered the 
start. Danforth’s temper’s as like your own as 
to be its twin brother. So judge for yourself. 
But as for Delight Boloson, she says good-bye 
now and heaves away.” 

A curious expression passed over the face of 
the half-blind old skipper, and Delight fancied 
there was more of softness in it. She knew, as 
did all Seabury, that when Enoch Legg had lost 
both his only child and the trig little craft which 


FAREWELLS. 


19 


bore her name, on a certain dark night long in 
the past, his heart had broken. 

He had “cursed God” and tried to “die.” 
But he had not died. He had sailed on more 
than one stormy voyage thereafter, until that 
memorable last one from which he returned a 
wreck, to lie stranded on the hilltop, helpless for 
the rest of his da3^s. 

“Well, so be, then. Here, girl. I’m not car- 
ing now if Harriet knows. This paper, it tells 
all. What will you do with it? I offered it 
once, long back, to madam, but she’d have none 
of it. ‘ Some time, if need be, when I’m gone, 
give it to little Delight.’ Them was her words. 
And last night she come and stood outside the 
window. I seen her as plain as the moonlight. 
So I must hand it over, though I’d hoped to keep 
it snug and hidden till my own old hulk was 
buried under.” 

“ But I do not wish it. What sort of paper is 
it ? If it is valuable, thee’d surely better keep it 
still. Something might happen to it ” 

“ I wish there might ! But there won’t. More 
than one has tried to lose it and failed. The 
man who last had it and put it into my hands — 
curse him ! ” 

Delight sprang up in abhorrence. She had 
never seen old Enoch’s hard face wear such a 
look of evil as it wore then. There had never 


20 


THE STORY OF DELIGHT. 


been anything lovable about him, save in Cap- 
tain Harriet’s eyes, and now he was repulsive in 
extreme. 

“ I do not want it. I cannot take it. If auntie 
would not, why should I. It’s dirty and ” 

“ It’s parchment. And take it you shall ! 
Harriet, find me somewhat to wrap it in, since 
she’s so dainty. Well, that runs in the Roloson 
blood, too, as well as — some other things.” 

For an instant Captain Harriet hesitated ; then 
she slipped out of the house for a moment, and 
when she came back she held toward her husband 
the ancient wallet which Delight had so lately 
given her. But it was empty. 

‘‘ There, mate, take that. If there’s aught evil 
about the paper this will be counter-charm. 
There’s virtue in anything that Aunt Delight 
ever touched.” 

Enoch looked at the wallet critically. He 
would have liked to keep it. He had a fancy for 
hiding “notions” beneath his pillow and be- 
guiled the lonely hours when his better half 
(literally) was out upon her duties by look- 
ing them over and playing with them, as a 
child with its toys. Indeed there was, at times, 
so much that was childish about the old sailor 
that Delight was not surprised to see Captain 
Harriet take the parchment peremptoril}’^ from 
his gnarled fingers and place it in the wallet. 


FAREWELLS. 


21 


She did this Avith an air of great disdain, and 
having bidden her “ mate ” to say farewell — still 
in that same manner of commanding a willful 
child — she led Delight away from the lonely 
cottage. She walked so briskly that the girl was 
compelled to run to keep abreast of her, but at 
the brow of the hill she paused abruptly. 

“ There, lassie, go your Avay, and may it be a 
peaceful one, as befits the daughter of the 
Kolosons and a Friend. But see well to this 
wallet and what it holds. It may be a vagary 
of my mate’s addled brain or it may be — God 
knows what ! ” 

A cloud came over her rugged face and her 
eye fixed its gaze upon the glorious sunset sky, 
as if seeing yet not seeing Avhereon it rested. 

“ Farewell, then, old friend.” 

Captain Harriet’s thoughts came back with a 
shock to the present. Those in which she had 
lost herself, if only so briefly, were evidently 
absorbing and distressful ones ; and holding out 
her calloused hand she said Avith a grim smile : 

“ So be it. Fare you Avell. But for the grave- 
digger, she must even fare as she has done, fore- 
past.” 

She Avould have turned and retraced her foot- 
steps toAvard the bleak cottage and its more for- 
bidding inmate Avithout a further Avord. But 
this the warm-hearted girl could not allow. 


22 


THE STORY OF DELIGHT. 


“ Why, Captain Harriet ! Old friend of all the 
E-olosons, that’s not the way to part. Why, it’s 
but the other day, it seems to me, since thee 
carried me on thy shoulder when we went berry- 
ing up the Hill. Thee wouldn’t even let me wet 
my shoes, I remember. How, it’s this way and 
no other that thee and me says farewell.” 

With a sudden fling of her arms about the old 
woman’s gaunt shoulders. Delight kissed the 
weather-beaten cheek again and again. Always 
there had been love between these two, so differ- 
ent from one another, and yet, in a certain rug- 
ged strength of character so like. But hitherto 
the love had been expressed by deeds rather than 
caresses. 

How, something within the gravedigger’s soul 
was stirred profoundly. She saw once more the 
little daughter, her only child, who had gone 
down into the sea on the good ship CoUimhine. 
Herself named Columbine, by a mother’s fancy, 
for the delicate flower of the rocks which her 
baby Angers had loved to hold. So, Avith the 
tenderness of wakened motherly memories. Cap- 
tain Harriet folded the desolate Delight in her 
strong arms and kissed her in return. 

‘‘There, bonny lassie, I never thought to do 
the like again for aught human. But you’re aye 
dear to my lonely heart, ‘ little Delight ’ — Avell 
named ! Take courage, child. This parting is 


FAREWELLS, 


23 


not for always ; though if it were, there are many 
in the world to which you go who would marvel 
at sight of your curly head upon my shoulder 
and wonder you could grieve over so rough a 
creature as I am. Good-bye. It’s over long I’ve 
kept you. Tell Cap’n Danforth it was my fault, 

and so Good voyage, and God guide your 

craft ! ” 

With tears blinding her own eyes Delight 
hastened down the slope ; but the tears were not 
for long. Until the last sad week she did not 
remember ever weeping; but now she had grown 
“ weak enough to cry over everything.” 

“ That comes of thinking too much of myself. 
Darling auntie would always say: ‘Keep thy- 
self out of the matter, whatever is in hand, and 
thee’ll be cheerful enough. Live up to thy name, 
as all who have worn it have tried, and thee’ll 
find life quite happ^q despite whatever sorrow the 
Lord sees lit to send.’ Oh ! what a wise, wee old 
body she was ! How shall I live without her ! 
But I — must. And I’ll be as like her as I can. 
I’ll begin this very minute ; ” and with an upward 
glance toward heaven, asking its protection, she 
moved briskly forward. 

All down the village street, beside those 
gathered in seamstress Esther’s room and a 
larger group at the wharf itself, were knots of 
people watching her descent. Old time friends. 


24 


THE STORY OF DELIGHT. 


who had loved her from her infancy and who 
realized that in her departure they were losing 
the brightest spirit of their quiet homes. 

“ She’s a strong and sturdy maiden, who’s 
taken her fifteen years of life vigorously,” said 
the minister, wiping his spectacles on Miss 
Esther’s apron. “ She shows in face and figure 
how she has lived in the open ; and now, for the 
first time, she faces a great trouble. How will 
she bear it, I wonder.” 

“ She won’t bear it, dominie. She’ll face it, as 
you said. She’ll conquer it. She’s a Koloson, 
beam and timber, an’ if the world ain’t the better 
for her cornin’ into it she’s the first of her kin 
ever failed it yet. Money they hadn’t so much, 
none of ’em. Their wealth lay in hearts, and I 
ain’t been sittin’ cobbling an’ thinking so long, 
all by myself, without learning which is best. 
Lord bless her, bonny lass ! ” 

More than one sniffed audibly. 

“ I declare, this seems more of a funeral than 
the other was,” said the storekeeper’s wife, 
smiling a little. “ Suppose we all put a brave 
front on it and send her off with a laugh, instead 
of so much salt water. She’ll get enough of 
that betwixt here and Toddin^ton.” 

“ That won’t scare her; she’s a born sea baby,” 
responded the parson’s sister, who kept the school 
— when there had been anybody young enough to 


FAREWELLS. 


25 


attend it — and who had taught Delight all she 
herself knew of “ the three R’s.” 

“ Captain Danforth’s waiting for you, Delight ! ” 
called the storekeeper’s lady ; and, as a person of 
prominence in the community, her opinion had 
weight; so everybody present welcomed the girl 
with a smile. 

This was pleasant and suited with the assumed 
bravery of Delight’s own mood. 

“ I’m sorry to have kept him waiting, but I had 
to see Cap’n Enoch, and that hindered. Oh ! 
Mrs. Robinson, I forgot to tell thee. If thee’ll 
go into the garden, around by the west cellar 
steps, thee’ll find that calla lily Aunt Delight 
promised thee. But where is Maria ? ” 

All looked and wondered. Maria was the old 
servant of the late Madam Roloson, and an 
inmate of the “Snuggery ” from her own earliest 
years. Maria’s father had been an “able sea- 
man ” under the orders of some dead and gone 
Captain Roloson and her devotion to “our 
family ” had passed into a proverb. 

“ As faithful as Maria,” it was strange she had 
failed at the very end. 

“ Doubtless, she’s down at the wharf. She’d be 
at the last spot where she could see you, my dear.” 

“Very well, I’ll hurry faster, then. Are any 
coming with me ? Good-bye, dears, and good- 


26 


THE STORY OF DELIGHT. 


Most of those at Esther’s cottage followed the 
traveller shoreward and each affected a cheerful- 
ness which did not for a moment deceive either 
themselves or her, yet made the last period less 
unhappy. But look where they would, there was 
no Maria visible; and the saddest part of the 
whole leave-taking was this, her first act of 
unfaithfulness. 

“ Well, bad as she might feel, she’d no business 
to cut up this way!” said “Bachelor Jim,” in- 
dignantly. 

Delight sprang aboard, smiling and waving her 
hand bravely. 

“ Sometime, somehow, I’m coming back 1 ” she 
called ; and this was the joy fullest farewell she 
could have left to old Seabury. 

“ Aye, aye, lass ! Come back, come back ! 
And may it be soon 1 ” shouted the cobbler, 
making his hands his trumpet. 

The Emily Jane danced away from shore, as 
light as a bird on the wing. Her captain bawled 
out, for by no light speech could he make them 
hear : 

“ Don’t you worry, neighbors. I’ll see her and 
her famous chest of drawers safe to her v’yage’s 
end. I ’low this is the vally blest cargo ever 
went to sea from this cove, since I was born into 
it. But I hope I’ll live to fetch ’em back again. 
So — here she goes 1 ” 


FAREWELLS. 


27 


The little vessel swept steadily out to sea; its 
“ crew ” of one, with the inherent delicacy of 
those who live close to nature, avoiding as much 
as might be the corner Avhere little Delight 
crouched and ducked her head to catch the last 
glimpse of her home. 

“ Oh ! how I love it all — all ! ” 

Even yet the last rays of the sunset lighted 
the church on the hill and the gleaming head- 
stones beside it, and Delight’s eyes rested on a 
faint white spot where lay heaped the last of the 
once famous “ Koloson artemisias.” Then her 
gaze swept downward to the low-roofed home- 
stead, lying so snugly amid its fields and gardens, 
where had lived and died so many of her race, 
and from which she, the last, was now a wanderer. 

‘‘ Keckon if this wind holds we’ll make Todding- 
ton an hour or better afore train-time. I’ve 
crossed this bay when ’twas so dark an’ foggy 
couldn’t tell nose from toes ; and with this moon- 
light Ahoy, there, lass ! You ain’t cry in’, 

are ye ? ” 

A low sob answered him. 

“ To goodness knows ! You mustn’t take it 
that way. This here cargo of heirlooms — you 
an’ your bureau — will reach happy haven yet, 
don’t doubt. Why, by all the red h errin’ 1 
’Tain’t many a maid has the whole community, 
from the parson’s wife down, turn out to wish 


28 


THE STORY OF DELIGHT. 


’em good v’yage, as you did. You ought to be 
proud an’ well sot up. Schools an’ company of 
your own age ; new sights an’ pretty ones ; fine, 
I tell you. Anyway, it’s the ones are left has 
the hardest time. Old Margaret now, or ‘ Bach- 
elor Jim ’ ” 

“ Don’t ! ” cried poor Delight, and hid her face 
in her hands. 

“ Sho ! might ha’ known ’twas clear Roloson 
grit an’ nothin’ else was keepin’ her up so peart 
an’ chipper. Dolphins ! what a blunderer I am. 
Well now, Danforth, chew your cud an’ keep 
your fool mouth shut, the rest o’ this v’yage,” 
muttered the captain to himself, and relapsed 
into absolute silence. 

But into this broke the voice of the solitary 
passenger with the cry : 

“ Skipper ! A boat in distress ! Signals — 
north-northwest ! ” 


CHAPTER III. 


THE SAIL TO TODDINGTON. 

“ Distress ! On such a night in such a mill- 
pond ! ” 

“ Yes, yes! It’s a little boat — with a woman 
in it — alone — she’s waving her oar and some- 
thing big — does thee see?” lined out Delight, 
at broken intervals, watching with her clearer 
sight the peculiar movements of the boat she had 
descried. 

The captain used his glass. Used it so long 
and with such varying expressions that Delight 
felt as if she must snatch it away and see for her- 
self what so amazed him. Finally, as if he re- 
alized her anxiety, he quietly handed her the 
glass, exclaiming : 

“ That fool, Maria ! ” 

“ It can’t be ! ” 

“ True as the compass. So, here’s for it. W ell, 
we may make Toddington to-night 1 ” 

The skipper rested his own vessel and waited 
for the adventurous Maria to come up ; but it was 
soon evident that this could not be. She was 
certainly in trouble. 


30 


THE STORY OF DELIGHT, 


Dolphins ! Somebody’s got to go after her ! ” 

“ Let me ! ” cried Delight, who was almost as 
much at home on the water as the captain him- 
self. 

‘‘With Laddie, then.” 

In a moment or two Laddie, the captain’s son 
and “ first mate,” had their small boat ready and 
Delight leaped into it. Steering as he rowed, 
they were soon beside the little Glideabout,, the 
girl’s own dainty craft which it had been such 
grief to leave behind. 

“ Maria Disney ! What is thee doing here ? ” 

“ Try in’ to keep from drownin’.’ 

“ What made thee come ? ” 

“Don’t stop to ask questions. One of you 
help. I’ve lost the oleander already and in a 
minute the calla ’ll go down, too.” 

“ The calla ! For goodness ! But auntie gave 
that to Mrs. Eobinson.” 

“ Only because she thought we couldn’t keep it.” 

“ How can we ? Oh ! Laddie, help her. She’ll 
tip over, surely.” 

“ Did you ever see such a sight ? ” he demanded, 
laughing, yet working busily to right the cargo 
of the Glideabout, so to keep it afloat. 

This cargo consisted mainly of monster potted 
house-plants which had been the pride of Maria’s 
heart for many a year. Added, were a small 
trunk, a tin oven, a spinning-wheel for flax, a pile 


THE SAIL TO TODDINGTON. 


31 


of bedding, and last, but by no means least, 
portly Maria herself. 

“Well, I’d like to know where thee is going,” 
said Delight, as sternly as she could for the 
laughter she could not suppress. 

“Easy answered. To Toddington first, and 
wherever thee goes after.” 

“ But thee can’t. It was all the Hudsons were 
willing just to have me sent to them. I’m sorry, 
but we must part, dear.” 

“ I’ll see about that,” said the other, grimly. 

Delight sighed. She had rarely come in com- 
fiict with the stubbornness of the old servant 
but she had been worsted on the few occa- 
sions when she had. In any case, the broad 
sea was not a spot in which to argue the matter 
out. 

“Well, we can’t stay here and keep Captain 
Danforth waiting. Laddie, thee get in and row 
Maria to the sloop and I’ll row back by myself.” 

“He’ll do naught of the sort. I’m right 
enough now. I set out to go to Toddington, on 
my own hook, and to Toddington I’ll go exactly 
as I planned.” 

“ Why, but my dear ! Thee can’t expect the 
captain to wait for thee. The wind is rising and 
he’ll make good headway. Come aboard, tie the 
Glideabout to the stern, and take the chances 
with the ‘cargo.’ Who but thee would ever have 


32 THE STORY OF DELIGHT. 

dreamed of going to sea in a rowboat with a lot 
of stuff such as that ? ” 

“ Stuff ? Humph. And is this the first time 
a rowboat has crossed harbor to the mainland ? ” 

“Of course not. But — thee — oh ! Maria ! ” 

Words failed to express Delight’s emotions, 
yet certainly her leave-taking from the “ faithful ” 
one was proving anything but sad. 

When she reached the Emily Jane^ its captain 
heard tlie story with more vexation than 
amusement. 

“ If I go on and let her f oiler, like’s not she’ll 
tip over an’ get more salt water ’n she ‘ planned.’ 
But I know Maria. Might as well try to move a 
meetin’-house as her hard-sottedness. Well, I 
see nothin’ to do but give her her head an’ it’s 
sure to fetch her up against some rock or other, 
o’ trouble.” 

“ But though she can row pretty well it’s a 
long trip to Toddington and I don’t remember 
that she ever made it, since I was born.” 

“ Oh ! don’t get worried over that, lassie. 
Laddie here shall keep his boat near hand, and 
so act sort of harbor police to fetch this runaway 
into port. Bless my soul ! if this ain’t the 
queerest, female-ishest piece o’ doin’s I ever lieard 
of. Old critter ain’t been out o’ cove in twenty 
year, most like, a settin’ off after nightfall to 
row a boat full o’ house plants clean across this 


THE SAIL TO TODDINGTON. 


33 


bay. Well, her pluck deserves better luck than 
it’ll get, I fear.” 

The outcome of the incident was that Delight 
utterly forgot that she was leaving her old home 
for a strange one and became so absorbed in 
watching for the Glideahout and its occupant 
that she scarcely realized her sail was over till 
the captain called out : 

“ Toddington, ahoy, little Delight ! ” 

“ Aye, aye, skipper ! ” she returned, after his 
own manner, knowing it would please him. 
“ Can thee sight the Glideahout f ” 

“No. Well, Laddie is ‘on deck.’ It’s all 
right. But I reckon the amiable Maria has made 
us too late for the evening train. We’ll have to 
put up at some tavern till morning, ’less you can 
make out to snooze a bit in my bunk here.” 

“Of course. I’d like nothing better. Only, 
what will thee do ? ” 

“ Make shift well enough. So, I’ll tidy up a 
bit an’ then you’d best turn in. Can’t do any 
good lyin’ awake, an’ I ain’t worryin’ none. 
There you be ; snug’s a bug. I’ll just have a 
pipe an’ then I’ll take a nap, too.” 

Before the pipe was finished Delight was in a 
deep slumber ; and the sun was shining when, at 
last, the captain roused her to eat the bit of 
breakfast he had prepared. Yet with the first 
realization she had of how and where she was. 


84 


THE STORY OF DELIGHT. 


she saw, also, that her friend’s face was very 
grave. 

This roused her completely and springing up 
she asked : 

Have the boats come in ? ” 

‘‘Ho. Neither one. Somethin’s wrong.” 


CHAPTEE lY. 


NOVEL EXPERIENCES. 

“What could be, with Laddie at hand? Be- 
sides, even if Maria is out of practice she was 
once a good sailor. Though why she should try 
such a way of crossing the bay puzzles me.” 

“It don’t me, then. But come, eat your 
breakfast. Starving yourself won’t help what’s 
done.” 

“ Still, I don’t understand. Thee knows more 
than thee tells me and, surely, I should know, 
too. Maria was so faithful to auntie and me.” 

“ Hang her faithfulness ! It was that mis’able 
notion fetched all this squall. When it come to 
the scratch what does that woman do but de- 
clare, up and down, that if you left Seabury she 
left Seabury, too. She wouldn’t stay a minute 
in the old place, ’less it had a Eoloson to save it.” 

“ Why didn’t she come us, then ? Hot 
try to do what she did.” 

“ Don’t ask me to ’count for no female doin’s. 
I’ve been married three times to as good women 
as ever baked bread, an’ I hain’t got the hang o’ 
the critters, yet.” 


35 


36 


THE STORY OF DELIGHT. 


“ l^ever mind that. Maybe thee didn’t try. 
What about Maria ?” 

“Drink that colfee. Only this. Down she 
come yesterday, just as I was cleanin’ up a mite, 
against your v’yage, an’ says she, ‘ I’d like to sail 
on the Emily Jane., too, cap’n.’ ‘ You ? ’ says I, 
struck all aback. I’d as soon thought of the 
‘ Snuggery ’ moving as her, an’ all the folks in the 
community glad an’ willin’ to give her a home. 
Let alone all the rest. I mean about her havin’ 
saved up enough to pay her way, anywhere.” 

“Yes, I know. She was real forehanded.” 

“Well, I knew that wouldn’t do. There was 
you, goin’ amongst strangers, maybe none too 
willin’ Pooh ! that slipped out ” 

“ I knew it,” said Delight, simply. 

“ Ilmm. The more fools they. But, of 
course, you couldn’t go there, handicapped by as 
contrary an old woman as ever trod shoe leather. 
Moreover, IVl made Maria an offer, plain an’ 
square. If she’d a mind to come an’ keep house 
for me an’ Laddie, I was willin’ to marry her an’ 
so settle the business of her turnin’ adrift at her 
time o’ life.” 

“ What ? Thee marry our Maria ? What a 
good thing she said no. But go on, please.” 

At another time the captain might have re- 
sented the smile lurking about Delight’s lips, but 
just then he was too deeply disturbed to care. 


NOVEL EXPERIENCES. 


37 


“ She said she’d marry nobody. But she was 
goin’ to Chester to look after you. ‘Would I 
take her in the Kmily Jane f ’ ‘ No. I wouldn’t.’ 
You see we was both kind of mad, ’cause we 
hadn’t agreed on that other subject. ‘That’s 
final, is it?’ ‘ Yes. Final as the graye. I’ll have 
no hand in any such nonsense.’ ‘All right. 
Then I’ll take the nonsense^ into my own hand. 
It won’t be half so much of a job as bein’ fourth 
consort to you,’ says she; ‘and to Chester I’m 
goin’, as sure as my name is Maria Disney.’ Of 
course there wasn’t another smack goin’ out, 
afore to-morrow night, if then; an’ stage day is 
three off. So that’s all. But if she’s drowned — 
or Laddie — I shall feel — as if — I’d — murdered — 
’em.” 

It was terrible to see this breakdown in one so 
self-confident as Captain Danforth and, for a 
moment, Delight could not answer. She leaned 
her head on her hand and tried to think. But it 
couldn’t be that the missing ones were really lost. 
It could not. It had been natural, maybe, that 
dear old Aunt Delight should “ pass,” in the peace 
and serenity of her extreme age ; but this yig- 
orous Maria, who had ruled at the “ Snuggery ” 
with an iron hand, and Laddie, in his youth — 
No. 

“ I can’t and won’t belieye it. Nor shall thee 


till 


38 


THE STORY OF DELIGHT. 


For silent answer, the captain })ointed to the 
side of the pier where he had fastened the Emily 
Jane. There floating idly, tied to another sloop 
which had come in during the niglit, was a white 
rowboat, bearing in scarlet letters the name: 
“ Glideahont?'' It was quite empty, and Delight 
stared at it as she might at a ghost. 

“ I don’t understand.” 

“Nor I. But Skipper Lawson found it about 
three o’clock this morning, bottom side up. An’ 
there was nothing else in sight but a broken oar 
an’ a woman’s shawl. Here ’tis.” 

With a chill of dismay Delight recognized the 
familiar old “ Broche,” which Maria had cher- 
ished so carefully. Still, she would not believe 
any evidence so slimsy. 

“ What of that ? I suppose she lost it over- 
board. I’m glad it was found and maybe it can 
be dried and made good again. I suppose she 
got tired of her own boat and got into Laddie’s. 
It was bigger and would hold all her traps 
better. Maybe, too, they have gone the wrong 
way, or lost their oars, or something.” 

“ Laddie was born afloat, so to speak. He 
knows Toddington Bay as he knows this deck. 
There wasn’t wind enough to upset any craft, 
last night, and if he was such a fool as to lose his 
oars, well — he about ought to drown. But he 
didn’t, not from no common cause. I didn’t 


NOVEL EXPERIENCES. 


39 


mention it afore, but — there was a ‘ man eater ’ 
seen in the bay last week.’- 

“ Well, if there was, it hasn’t eaten either our 
Maria or Laddie ! I donH believe that any real 
mischance has come to them. So cheer up, dear 
captain, and do as thee bade me. Drink some 
coffee and thee’ll feel better.” 

He obeyed, but as soon as he had finished, re- 
marked : 

“ What has happened to anybody else can’t af- 
fect you. You were due at Chester last night, 
an’ I pledged myself to get you there. You 
mustn’t lose the morning train, anyhow.” • 

“But I couldn’t possibly leave thee in the 
midst of this trouble. It’s my trouble, too. It 
was for me Maria came, so it’s not thee but my 
poor self who is to blame if harm has happened 
them. I’m not believing it has, though.” 

“ I’d like to have you stay, but you could do 
no good. And I’ll tell you what I’ve been think- 
ing. I can put you an’ your luggage aboard the 
train and speak a word to the conductor. He’ll 
take as good care of you as I could ; and maybe 
he’ll hire somebody to go with you from the 
station in Chester to your cousin’s house. Or” 
— and the captain paused to well consider so 
flighty a proposition — “we might even tele- 
graft ’em.” 

Even Delight was aghast at this startling sug- 


40 


THE STORY OF DELIGHT. 


gestion. She had seen but few telegrams in her 
life and these had always reference to some 
trouble. She didn’t think she would like a tele- 
gram sent about so simple a thing as herself and 
said so frankly. 

“ All right. I s’pose it would be kind of ex- 
travagant. An’ you’re a smart girl enough. So 
we’ll leave it that Avay. I’ll go hunt up a dray- 
man, one that takes my fish for me, and set you 
off. I feel, after all, ’at / myself must stay 
right here, against somethin’ cornin’ to light.” 

“ But, if there is any news how shall I hear ? 
And will thee send Maria to me as soon as she 
gets in ? ” 

“ When Maria gets in I’ll send her to you,” 
said the captain with great solemnity. Then he 
hurried away to seek his drayman ; and Delight 
sooii found herself perched on her own trunk in 
a small cart, that smelled very strongly of fish 
and Avas not over-clean. 

She didn’t object to that, however. It Avas a 
familiar odor, and brought back so many crowd- 
ing memories that she forgot her present sur- 
roundings in them. It Avas a short ride to the 
station, and she was startled by the sound of the 
puffing steam from the engines on the tracks be- 
yond it and scarcely heard the instructions which 
the drayman gave her, as he handed her her 
ticket and the check for her trunk. 


NOVEL EXPERIENCES. 


41 


‘‘ Here’s the rest of the money, miss. The 
captain said the big piece, a bureau I guess, had 
best go by express. It’s lucky it can go on this 
same ti*ain and it’ll be there about as soon as 
you are. I’ve spoke to the train liand about it 
and he’ll send it along skipping. Well, good-day, 
miss, and a pleasant journey.” 

He was about to leave her but her frightened 
expression arrested him. All her dreams of rail- 
ways, back there in her peninsular home, had not 
conjured up anything so noisy and nerve-distract- 
ing as these monster things upon the rails, and 
her self-possession had quite left her. 

“ Pshaw ! I forgot. The captain said you’d 
come from a terrible quiet place. I was to hunt 
up the conductor an’ put you in his care. Here 
he is. Must be about time to start. Hello, 
sir ! ” 

^‘What’s up? all aboardj ” answered the man 
in blue and brass buttons. 

“ I’d like to get this girl ‘ up,’ if you please, sir. 
And pray have a care of her. She’s not used to 
travelling and is a bit scared.” 

“All right. Here you go, miss. It’s a high 
step, but there ! Go right into this car and take 
a seat about the middle of it. This side will be 
the pleasantest and there’s plenty of room yet. 
We’ll take on a crowd at the next station wherq 
the northern express m^^ts us, All aboard ! ’’ 


42 


THE STORY OF DELIGHT. 


With a scarcely perceptible motion the long train 
moved out from the station and at first Delight 
was not conscious of anything but the curious 
conveyance in which she found herself. Then 
the houses and trees began to rush by her, at an 
ever-increasing speed, as if hurling themselves 
against the car, and she clutched the seat’s arm 
as if she expected to be thrown out of the window 
herself. 

No such dire calamity occurring, however, she 
began to enjoy herself. The rapid motion, the 
odd effect of the scenery — as if she were standing 
still and it flying past her — so engrossed her that 
for some distance she noticed nothing else, not 
even the passengers. 

Then they came to a larger town than even 
Toddington had seemed; and here, as the con- 
ductor had foretold, a crowd of travellers boarded 
the car. It was the last station on the bay, and 
a nearer one from Seabury ; but not so convenient 
for the business Captain Danforth must transact. 
From here onward the road would plunge deep 
into the heart of the state, and there would be 
many hours of even this swift travel before De- 
light could reach the inland city of Chester 
whither she was bound ; and to which place the 
skipper had originally intended to accompany her. 

“ Oh ! the folks ! I didn’t know there were so 
man^ in the vyprld. Or, at least, I didn’t expect 


NOVEL EXPERIENCES. 


43 


to see them all in a bunch, so,’’ she thought. “ I 
wonder where they’ll sit. I must get up and let 
some older person have my place.” 

Yet she was afraid to stand up and offer it. 

“ I should certainly be thrown down. It wig- 
gles around so.” 

She did not know she had spoken aloud till a 
pleasant voice near her remarked : 

“ Yes, it does ‘ wiggle,’ horribly. It makes me 
dizzy. May I ask if this half your seat is en- 
gaged ? ” 

“ I was sitting here alone, if that is what thee 
means.” 

A flash of pleasure came into the stranger’s 
eyes. For many a day she had seen nothing so 
charming as the quaint simplicity of Delight’s 
appearance ; and now the “ plain speech ” ex- 
plained the slightly modified grey costume which 
Esther Marlow had fashioned from Aunt De- 
light’s own meeting attire. 

“ Ah ! my child. Are you a Friend ? ” 

“Yes. Is thee?” answered the girl, de- 
lighted, as the pleasant woman sank into the 
seat beside her. 

“Only by birthright. I’m a sadly worldly 
creature now, I fear.” 

“ Thee doesn’t look it,” said Delight, scanning 
the other’s garb. It was grey, also; but with 
what a difference ! Every detail bore the stamp 


44 


THE STORY OF DELIGHT. 


of a fashionable designer’s hand ; and, had the 
ignorant maiden known it, she was riding beside 
a woman whose “ style ” was famous in more 
than one city. 

“ Thank you. Thank ‘ thee,’ 1 feel like saying. 
That is the prettiest compliment I’ve had this 
many a day.” 

Delight’s perplexity showed in her clear hazel 
eyes and the lady hastened to explain : 

“ It was so sincere, my dear, and so straight 
from your heart. Are you travelling far ? ” 

“ To Chester.” 

“ Ah, indeed ! That is a long way. Alone ? ” 

“Yes. With all these people.” 

The lady smiled. “ How delicious ! Yet one 
may be more alone in a crowd than, in a wilder- 
ness.” 

Delight thought this very queer but, being too 
courteous to say so, turned her eyes toward the 
window. 

A moment later she had risen in her place and 
was making frantic efforts to get away from it, 
through the crowded narrow aisle, toward the 
equally packed doorway. 

“ Child ! Where are you going ? What is the 
matter? What did you see?” asked her seat- 
mate in swift succession, and startled by the 
pitiful eagerness of the girlish face. 

But for only answer Delight faced back to 


NOVEL EXPERIENCES. 


45 


the open window and stretched her arms 
through it : 

“ Oh ! Maria, Maria ! Here am I ! Here — 
here ! ” 

The next instant she was forcibly pushed 
downward into her seat and the window as 
promptly closed. ‘ 


CHAPTER Y. 


A PERPLEXING REUNION. 

“ Didn’t you know^ that was a fearfully danger- 
ous thing to do ? With all these trains passing 
and repassing. You might have been seriously 
hurt.” 

“ Might I ? But I saw Maria ! ” 

The lady smiled. “ A friend ? ” she asked. 

“Yes, yes. We didn't know but she was 
drowned.” 

“ Ah ! indeed ! Then I don’t wonder you were 
excited.” 

“ I must get to her. How can I do it ? There 
are so many folks.” 

“Wait a moment, my child. The train gen- 
erally runs out a little way from the station, then 
backs into it again to take on a connecting one, 
before the final start. You will probably see 
‘Maria’ again, when we run back. Or if you 
must leave the car Pll ask some gentleman to 
help you off.” 

Delight sat down again, partly because the 
motion of the car jarred her so that she could not 
stand steadily ; but she glued her eyes to the fast 
46 


A PERPLEXING REUNION. 


47 


slmt window and stared at every object passed. 
After a short advance they began to move back- 
ward again, as the lady had said. 

But when they came abreast of the platform 
there was no Maria to be seen, while a fresh 
crowd of belated passengers, bound cityward and 
hurrying to catch this ‘‘through express,” still 
further confused the anxious and frightened 
girl. 

“ How can I force my way through all those 
people ? But I must get to her ! ” she cried. 

“Wait ! There’s some sort of a commotion at 
the entrance. Not until that’s over can you get 
a chance, if even then.” 

“ Oh ! it’s Maria herself ! ” 

It was, indeed. But such a Maria as the quiet 
purlieus of Seabury had never seen. Dishevelled, 
water-soaked, and fierce of aspect, she pushed and 
elbowed her way toward the spot where she, 
also, had caught a glimpse of familiar features. 
Before the vigorous thumps of her sharp elbows, 
one and another gave way, so that much sooner 
than a gentler person could have accomplished 
the transit, the “ faithful ” one had gained at least 
a speaking distance from her object. 

“Oh! Maria! What a fright thee gave us! 

Why wasn’t thee drowned ? I mean Oh ! 

do take care. Time’s crushing that man’s hat ! ” 

“ Look here, my good woman. Slow and easy 


48 


THE STORY OF DELIGHT. 


goes far in a day,” remarked one traveller, upon 
whose toes the energetic creature had stepped. 

“ But fast and firm is better ! ” she retorted. 

Of course, several laughed and as the crowd 
had thinned, nearly all finding places, Maria was 
left the central figure of a considerable space. 
To do her justice, this was not at all to her 
liking. Determined as she was in her pursuit of 
Delight she had no unwomanly desire to be con- 
spicuous. She had travelled more than the girl 
she followed but not often enough to make her 
at ease in new scenes, unless dominated by some 
set purpose. 

"This purpose she had accomplished. Delight 
was found and would be kept well in sight for 
the future, so that now the devoted servant had 
leisure to think of herself and her appearance. 

“ What would madam have said ! Or the 
parson’s wife. I’m glad, too, that that hateful 
old Captain Danforth can’t see me now. I guess, 
the quieter I keep, for the present, the better for 
‘our family’s’ sake.” 

So she very meekly accepted the only seat 
which could be found for her, at the extreme rear 
of the car and so far removed from that of 
Delight that speech between them was im- 
possible. Yery soon the swift and regular jar- 
ring movement of the train lulled her weary 
senses to rest, for she had been awake all night, 


A PERPLEXING REUNION. 


49 


and after a while the only evidence she gave of 
her presence was a peaceful snore. This oc- 
casionally reached even to Delight’s ears, but the 
familiar sound filled her with a comfort beyond 
words. 

“ You look happier,” remarked the lady at her 
side. 

“ I am. Just listen to her, please. That’s the 
way she used to do at the ‘ Snuggery ’ ; and I 
don’t feel alone at all now.” 

‘‘ None of us do ! ” laughed the lady, and seeing 
the amused expression upon many faces near her 
Delight laughed, also, in sympathy. 

After that, as long as the woman in grey 
travelled beside her, the journey was a charming 
one. The new friend was certainly familiar with 
the road, for she pointed out all the interesting 
bits of scenery, which they passed, and named 
the various towns through which they rushed 
without stopping. 

“ It’s all so wonderful, isn’t it ? Doesn’t thee 
love to travel ? ” asked Delight, with shining 
eyes. 

“ Never more than to-day. It’s a pleasure to 
see so much enthusiasm as you have and you 
almost make me forget that I’ve been over this 
route so many times that I’m tired of it, or was, 
till I met you, and I’m really sorry to say that 
at the very next place the train will stop and I 


50 


THE STOEY OF DELIGHT. 


shall have to get off. But I hope you’ll reach 
your friends safely, and that we shall meet again. 
I am quite frequently in Chester. I shall be 
there at the holiday season, and if you’d like to 
see me again — why, this will be my address at 
that time.” 

The lady drew a card from her pocketbook and 
scribbled an address upon it, then gave it to De- 
light. 

“ Thank thee. I shall be sure to go and see 
thee — if I can.” 

“ Will there be any reason ‘ thee ’ can’t, my 
dear ? ” 

“ I don’t know. I don’t know my cousins, at 
all. But I must do whatever they wish, if it’s 
right. Aunt Delight bade me.” 

The lady elevated her eyebrows slightly and 
smiled a little. Her manner was new and fasci- 
nating to the soberly trained girl who watched 
her closel}^ 

“ I think, I hope, there is nobody in Chester 
who will object to my acquaintance,” she said, 
quietly. “ Ah ! there’s the warning whistle, and 
there’s the conductor to remind us of it. I rarely 
have to travel in this sort of car ; but to-day, be- 
cause of somebody’s blunder, there was no parlor 
car attached. Now I’m very glad of it, else I 
shouldn’t have known you.” 

“ Black Diver J unction ! Change for Boston ! ” 


A PERPLEXING REUNION. 51 

This announcement and direction was yelled 
from either end of the carriage, and simulta- 
neously ; but only an experienced traveller could 
have understood the cry. However, so many 
people rose and pressed tOAvard the narrow exits, 
that Delight sprang up and Avould have followed 
them. 

But her seat-mate shook her head. 

“ Not this time, my dear. In general, it’s safe 
to ‘go with the crowd ’ — though not always. Ke- 
member I shall be glad to see you — ‘thee’ — if 
your friends will allow.” Then with a merry smile 
and cheery good-bye the Avoman in grey Avas gone. 

Through the AvindoAv the girl saw her once 
again, as she crossed toAvard another Avaiting train, 
Avhose carriages Avere much handsomer than that 
in which she Avas riding. There Avere curtains at 
the AvindoAvs, of some rich stuff, and she caught 
a glimpse of cushioned chairs and dainty furnish- 
ings. 

“ Why, I Avonder if she knoAVS those colored 
men. Hoav very nice to her they are.” 

Indeed, the pleasant stranger might Avell have 
been a person of importance ; for, from the mo- 
ment she issued from her first train, she Avas sur- 
rounded by men in uniform, Avho took one her 
satchel, another her Avrap, and with many boAA^s 
and flourishes assisted her aboard their oAvn 
“ Palmyra.” 


52 


THE STORY OF DELIGHT. 


Then they were moving swiftly apart, and as 
Delight glanced about, the deserted seats gave 
her a sense of loneliness. For the first time she 
reflected how soon she would have to face that 
new life of which she, naturally, stood in dread ; 
nor was her courage greatly strengthened wlien 
Maria came staggering forward, along the aisle, 
reeling with the swift motion of the car and 
clutching wildly at every seat she passed. Fi- 
nally, she dropped into the place vacated by the 
lady in grey. 

Then with a smile, as full of perplexity as 
pleasure, Delight slipped her hand into that of 
her old friend and begged : 

‘‘ Now, Maria, tell me the whole story, please. 
Whatever made thee try to cross Toddington 
Bay in a rowboat — thee ? ” 

“ I’ve done it before.” 

“I don’t remember it.” 

“ Likely enough. It was before thee was born.” 

The lapse into the plain speech, which the 
“faithful” one always used in the “family,” yet 
never outside of it, touched and comforted the 
other. It Avas sign of a gentle mood and, though 
Maria’s coming had been a mistake. Delight 
wanted to hear how it had happened. . 

“ Tell me the Avhole story, please.” 

“ From the beginning ? As thee always teased 
for when thee was little ? ” 


A PERPLEXING REUNION. 


53 


Delight nodded. The racket about them made 
anything like confidential talk between them 
seem impossible ; yet the same noise also drowned 
their voices. But this didn’t trouble the narrator, 
who was quite indifferent to the opinions of 
strangers, and she began by a question : 

“Did thee really think I would tarry at Sea- 
bury after all our ‘ family ’ was gone ? ” 

“ What else could I think ? Where can thee 
go?” 

“ To the same place thee does.” 

“ But, Maria, I fear they will not make thee 
welcome. It’s hard, I know, and oh ! how I^d 
love to have thee. But the minister said my 
cousins were not over willing to have even me. 
They said I might go to them for awhile, but 
they didn’t promise to keep me for always.” 

Then the girl’s gaze fell upon the water-stained 
gown which had been Maria’s holiday attire and 
her heart reproached her, remembering the peril 
through which its wearer must have passed. 

“First, my dear, what happened thee last 
night ? Where is Laddie ? ” 

“In Toddington, long before this. Well, all 
happened was — we upset.” 

“Both?” 

“ Yes. I was just trying to move them plants 
so’s they’d be steadier when first I knew the 
whole boat-load swamped. Me with it.” 


54 


THE STOMY OF DELIGHT. 


“ Oh ! thee poor thing ! But, thank the dear 
Lord, thee was saved.” 

Maria smiled, grimly. “ Hmm. I reckon I do 
thank Him. I’m an old fool but He took care of 
me. He always does of fools and children.” 

“ But thee’s neither the one nor the other. Thy 
‘ Broche ’ shawl is at Toddington.” 

“ For the land’s sake ! ” 

“ Yes ; and the Glideahouty too. Captain Law- 
son found and brought them in. The Glideabout 
was bottom side up and the shawl was caught in 
the oar lock, with a broken oar. Ca|)tain Dan- 
forth said that we should never see thee again. 
Or Laddie. He felt terribly and I hated to leave 
him. But he made me. He said I couldn’t help 
by staying at Toddington.” 

“Ho. Thee couldn’t. Well, I lost them all. 
I lost everything, except what I have on. And 
this ; ” tapping her breast, significantly. 

“ What does thee mean ? ” 

“ My money. My savings. It’s all in good 
hard silver and gold, and weighs — a ton.” 

“ Maria ! ” 

“ Oh ! thee needn’t look at me, as Aunt De- 
light used to do. It’s all right. It’s heavy, that’s 
all. Though lucky for me the most of it was in 
gold. Eagles and double eagles. Captain Dan- 
forth used to get my wages changed into it, 
whenever I wanted, if he was going to Boston. 


A PERPLEXING REUNION, 55 

He’s seen a good deal of the world, the captain 
has.” 

“I suppose so. But tell. Did Laddie help 
thee out ? ” 

“Yes. For a good spell he made fun of me 
and my luggage. Said it wouldn’t hurt the 
plants to get a lot of water. I told him salt 
water ’d kill ’em. Then he was smart, accord- 
ing to his lights, and teetered the boat. The tin 
oven was the first thing to go — and how shall I 
ever make another batch of salt-rising, without 
that? Then the spinning-wheel. The trunk 
seemed to fall on me — and I don’t know the rest. 
I guess I would have drowned but for Laddie. 
He quit fooling, soon’s he saw I was in real 
trouble an’ grabbed me. But I clutched him 
pretty hard, I guess. Anyway, I pulled him into 
the water, too, and overset his boat. But he 
righted it soon and when I kind of got my wit 
back, there was we two drenched critters a sittin’ 
in Captain Danforth’s boat, without a word to 
say for ourselves.” 

Delight made no comment. Already she was 
wondering what the outcome of the matter would 
be. This her shrewd companion' surmised, and 
observed : 

“ Thee needn’t worry about me, little Delight. 
\Yorrying’s a new job for thee. I’ll be all right. 
I’ll try first if those cousins will take me in, too, 


56 


THE STORY OF DELIGHT. 


for the sake of ‘ our family.’ If they won’t, no 
matter. My father used to say : ‘ Your money’s 
your best friend,’ and luckily, that ‘ friend ’ is safe 
in that inside pocket of mine, this minute. I 
couldn’t let the last of the Kolosons go away into 
the strange world alone. 1 couldn’t ; and come 
what may I’ll be near hand to look after my old 
mistress’ ‘ treasure.’ Nor do I care a mite if all 
that stuff did go down to Davy Jones’ locker. 
I suppose” — doubtfully — “that there’d be as 
good a tinsmith at Chester as there is over to 
liillstown. At any rate I could watch him make 
the oven, sitting close by ” 

“ I suppose so. But, probably Hannah Hudson 
may have a tin oven of her own.” 

This hopeful view of the situation gave Maria 
such comfort that she presently sank into another 
doze, from which she did not rouse until the 
train reached a place where a stop ^vas made for 
dinner. 

“ Maria, the people are eating in that big 
room, yonder, and I’m very hungry. Let us go 
and get something, too.” 

“Humph. Hey? Hungry. I’m not. Not a 
bit.” 

“ But I am. All I remember of my breakfast 
is a cup of coffee that scalded me and was all 
ground-sy.” 

“ It’s a regular flying in the face of Providence 


A PERPLEXING REUNION. 


57 


to waste money on store victuals. I had a nice 
lot of crullers and sage cheese in my carpet bag’.” 

“ Yes, no doubt ! But that is at the bottom of 

Toddington Bay, and Come, please. See. 

Already some are coming out. We’ll be too 
late.” 

‘‘AYell, I suppose thee’ll have to be indulged. 
Aunt Delight did her best to s])oil thee. Come 
on, then. Keep tight hold my hand and don’t 
stare round at folks.” 

Delight obeyed. Then she swallowed a hasty 
luncheon for which Maria reluctantly paid, nor 
would the good woman touch a morsel herself. 

“I can pay thee back, Maria. I have all the 
money I had when I started. The captain would 
buy my ticket for me. He said it was for the 
‘ Koloson ’ part of me and because lie loved Aunt 
Delight. He was as kind as kind could be, and 
yet he was in such trouble about Laddie. And, 
of course, thee,” she added, as an afterthought. 

“ Hmm. Much he troubled himself about me, 
I reckon. But he’s good-hearted, Stephen Dan- 
forth is. There. AYe’re back again and I’m go- 
ing to sleep. I feel terrible queer and messy in 
these clothes, though I sat the heft of the night 
before the fire in the boathouse, where we landed, 
trying to dry myself. AYake me up when we get 
to Chester.” 

She had plenty of time for her rest. So had 


58 


THE STORY OF DELIGHT 


Delight for thoughts. These were troubled, 
whenever they included her drowsy companion, 
but for herself she was determined to follow her 
dear aunt’s good advice : 

“Love others so much that they can’t help 
loving thee.” 

Besides this the watching of an ever-changing 
landscape was a delightful thing; and though 
the darkness had come down and almost hidden 
the scenes through which they sped, it had 
seemed a short day after all, when at length the 
guard opened the door and shouted : “ Chester ! ” 


CHAPTER YI. 


HAPPY HAVEN. 

At Madam Roloson’s death, a telegram was 
sent to her nearest, though distant, relatives. 
Dominie Babcock himself going to Billstown to 
dispatch it. 

As no response came to the message, he fol- 
lowed it by a letter, enclosing a sealed one that 
had been entrusted to him by his dying friend. 
In his own epistle he spoke warmly of “ little 
Delight,” and the blessings which would accrue 
to those who gave her a new and happy home. 
He would gladly have kept the girl under his 
own roof, but he realized, as did Madam Roloson, 
that she must now acquire a fuller education than 
was possible at secluded Seabury. He, therefore, 
hoped to receive a prompt and favorable answer. 

The reply was prompt enough, but exceedingly 
brief. To the tender-hearted old divine it seemed 
almost brutal in its terseness. 

“The Hudsons were sceptical of uninvited 
‘ blessings,’ and in their already crowded house 
was little room for any stranger. As for the 
education to which he referred, Chester was not 
remarkable for its advantages. However, they 

59 


60 


THE STORY OF DELIGHT. 


had their family pride quite as much at heart as 
any stranger could possibly have, and they would 
receive the girl — for the present.” 

Not a householder in Seabury but would far 
rather have kept the child who had grown up 
among them than send her to such scant wel- 
come. Still “ it was Aunt Delight’s wish,” and 
to them that was law. 

Small wonder, then, that as the trainman’s cry 
of “ Chester ! ” fell on her ears. Delight’s courage 
faltered for an instant. The next, she had reso- 
lutely banished her misgiving and recalled an- 
other of wise Madam Roloson’s sayings: 

“ Thee should never go half-way to meet 
trouble.” 

“ Come, Maria. Here Ave are, at our journey’s 
end.” 

Maria opened her eyes, confused somewhat by 
the surroundings, for she had been peacefully 
dreaming of her old home ; but she Avas Avholly 
refreshed by her hours of sleep and her native 
energy returned in full measure. 

“ Have all thy Avits about thee, child, and take 
care. It’s spooky sort of business getting into a 
strange place after dark. But stick tight to me 
and thee’ll be all right.” 

Yet it Avas not Delight Avho Avas disconcerted 
by the hubbub Avithout the station. The novelty 
of the scene, the street lights, the hurrying pedes- 


HAPPY HAVEN. 


61 


trians, the shouts of the hackmen and hotel run- 
ners, excited and thrilled her. She found it alto- 
gether })leasant to be in and a part of the life of 
a great town ; and when a man in a long coat, 
much adorned by brass buttons, approached and 
asked : “ Have a carriage, miss ? ” she replied, 

with a smile : “ Thee is very kind.” 

“What is it, child?” demanded Maria, nerv- 
ously clasping her charge’s hand. 

“ He is asking if we will ride in his carriage. 
Is that right, friend ? ” 

“ Yes, miss. Take you any part of the city.” 

“ How good of thee.” 

“ Hold on, Delight. Can’t get something for 
nothing in this world. Is this your wagon, team- 
ster ? ” 

“ Yes, lad}^” 

“ I allow you don’t run it for charity.” 

“ Ma’am ? ” 

“We want to go to No. 777 Argyle Terrace. 
What will be the tax?” 

“ Eh, ma’am ? ” 

“Come. Don’t be stupid. How much will 
you charge to take Miss Maria Disney and De- 
light Koloson to No. 777 Argyle Terrace, city of 
Chester, house of Palmer Hudson. There. Is 
that plain enough ? ” 

“ Quite, ma’am. One dollar and a half, ma’am. 
Cheap at that. Argyle Terrace is a good bit off.” 


62 


THE STORY OF DELIGHT. 


‘‘A — dollar — and — a — half! For the land’s 
sake. You must think I’m made of money. 
Come on, Delight. We’ll foot it.” 

The indignant woman moved away at a brisk 
pace, and Delight followed, nothing loath to be 
walking along the strange street, with its odd 
sights and sounds. But they had not progressed 
even one block before Maria paused abruptly, and 
with her familiar exclamation : 

“For the land’s sake ! ” 

“ What now, dear ? ” 

“ The chest of drawers ! ” 

“ Oh ! What about it ? Where is it ? ” 
“That’s what we must find out. We must go 
right back to the cars and see if it’s there.” 

They retraced their steps and Maria asked 
questions of almost every person she met. By 
dint of these, and in despite of various conflicting 
replies, the travellers found their way to the ex- 
press office in the big station. To their relief, 
the ancient, burlap-shrouded piece of furniture 
stood in plain sight; and the spinster speedily 
contracted for its safe and immediate delivery at 
No. 777 Argyle Terrace. 

“ Though I will say, ma’am, that as it is such a 
clumsy thing and my load is about full I would 
rather leave the delivery till morning. No great 
hurry, is there ? ” 

Maria’s temper rose. She was used to having 


HAPPY HAVEN. 


63 


people do as she said, and she was very hungry. 
Her economy in the matter of luncheon had not 
improved her mood. 

“You can take it or leave it. If you can’t, I 
guess you aren’t the only man in the city of 
Chester owns a wagon. Besides, if you’re a 
mind to do it. I’ll pay for the bureau and some- 
thing to boot, if you’ll carry this girl and me in 
the same trip.” 

The expressman considered. 

“Well, certainly, ma’am. If you are willing 
to ride in such a shape. The seat’s broad enough 
for three.” 

“All right. Hitch up then as soon as you 
can. I’d like to get there.” 

The man laughed softly to himself and made 
the haste required. The address she had given 
him he knew to be in the most fashionable part 
of the city, and he wondered not a little Avhat a 
rich household would think to have its guests 
come riding up to their door in a baggage van. 

When they had driven for what seemed a very 
long way, the driver suddenly turned the corner 
and entered a beautiful avenue. Parks extended 
through its centre, with a broad driveway on 
either side. Wide granite pavements, fronted 
cosy little grass plots and from behind these, 
still again, rose the handsome residences of Ches- 
ter’s wealthy citizens. 


64 


THE STORY OF DELIGHT. 


‘‘ Oh ! what a beautiful place ! Did thee ever 
see anything like it, Maria ? ” 

‘‘ No. I suppose he took us this way to show 
us the sights.” 

A moment later, before one of the largest 
mansions, brilliantly alight from attic to base- 
ment, the wagon came to a halt. 

‘‘This, miss, is No. 777 Argyle Terrace.” 

“ For the — land’s — sake ! ” 

Maria Disney was so overcome by the grandeur 
of her surroundings, that she suffered the ex- 
pressnian to almost lift her down bodily from her 
lofty seat. But Delight leaped to the ground, 
aglow with pleasure. What a wonderful, beauti- 
ful palace ! It was like that fairyland of which 
“Gentleman Jim” had told her so many tales. 

Strains of bewitching music floated out from 
the half-opened windows and, behind the lace 
draperies of some of them, people were moving 
to and fro in a rhythmic dance. 

Delight knew nothing of dancing, save what 
nature had taught her ; but at once her feet be- 
gan beating time to the regular throb, throb of 
the instruments within, and, unable to wait for 
Maria’s sloAver movement she bounded nimbly up 
the steps. But at the closed door she paused and 
there her tardy companion came uj) with her. 

“ Bless my soul, Delight. It seems as if this 
must be a mistake. I told him to wait. He’s 


HAPPY HAVEN. 


65 


sure it’s the number. But them Hudsons wrote 
that* they were poor. They could ill afford to 
(7^ keep even you. Wait. I’ll knock and find out.” 

Quite ignorant of the electric bell and its ma- 
nipulation and missing the familiar “ knocker ” 
which adorned Seabury front doors, Maria used 
her knuckles. 

Used them with such good effect that they 
seemed to drown the music, which stopped at that 
same instant and suddenly — though this was 
because the melody was finished. With equal 
suddenness the door opened and revealed a pom- 
pous colored servant in gorgeous livery. 

To him Maria’s plain and sea-worn appearance 
suggested but one conclusion : Beggars. 

“ Go away, woman. You cay n’t come in heah. 
Go to de basement an’ mebbe de cook ’ll give you 
a bite.” 

“ W-h-a-t ! ” almost screamed the indignant 
spinster. 

“ There’s some mistake, Maria. Let us go right 
in ; ” for having travelled a day and a night to 
reach this “ happy haven,” Delight had no inten- 
tion of not casting anchor there. 

So she stepped eagerly, yet modestly, forward 
into the- blaze of the electric lights, into the sight 
of all that goodly number of guests, and into her 
new, unknown life. 


CHAPTER YIL 


IN THE STILLNESS OF THE NIGHT. 

For a moment, Delight was dazzled by the 
scene. The hall which she had entered was 
brilliantly lighted and groups of gaily dressed 
young people Avere standing or moving about, 
while the rich staircase ascending from it seemed, 
in her bewildered sight, to rise into an upper 
fairy world Avhere unknown plants bloomed, and 
light and laughter reigned. 

But as none of the many revellers, seated on 
the palm-bordered stairs spoke to her, and those 
nearest her gave her but a brief, well-bred glance, 
she moved forAvard and laid her hand upon the 
arm of a young girl, apparently but little older 
than herself. 

“Can thee tell me, please, if Hannah Hudson 
lives here ? ” 

At the sound of the plain speech, and the lady’s 
name so familiarly given, there Avas an instant’s 
silence ; during Avhich the young girl had faced 
about to Delight, Avith an expression of annoyance. 

“ Oh ! Ah ? I suppose My mother’s name 

is Hannah, I believe, and Mrs. Palmer Hudson does 
66 


IN THE STILLNESS OF THE NIGHT. 67 

live here. Are you— the girl from that country 
place — Seafort, Sea — something — I forget ? ” 

“ I am Delight Koloson from Seabury. Am I 
not expected here ? ” 

“I suppose so. We didn’t look for you so 
soon. Come this way, please. I’ll find my 
mother ; ” and the young hostess hurriedly led 
the way to another room. 

“Wait a moment, please, will thee? Maria is 
outside the door, and the expressman with the 
luggage. Thee may have heard of the ‘ chest of 
drawers ’ and, of course, my trunk.” 

Gwendolyn Hudson paused, with an expression 
of such disgust and dismay, that a youth stand- 
ing near her laughed aloud. 

“ Uninvited guests, eh. Miss Gwendolyn ? ” 

“ Yes,” she said, sharply, and poor Delight 
felt more uncomfortable than ever before in her 
happ3^, sheltered life. 

Fortunately, however, Mrs. Hudson herself had 
become aware of some unusual happening in her 
entrance hall, and appeared from the reception 
room, where she had been chatting with her 
guests. 

“ What is it, Gwen, dear ? Ah ! This young 
lady ? I have not the pleasure ” 

“It’s that Koloson girl, mamma. You know. 
With a maid, I guess and her luggage. What’s 
to be done ? ” 


68 


THE STORY OF DELIGHT. 


A few things were done, and so quickly, that 
before either Delight or Maria had recovered 
from their astonishment at their surroundings, 
they found themselves in a quiet basement room, 
which was on ordinary occasions the servants’ 
dining-room. The precious bureau stood in one 
corner, ponderous in its wrappings, while a very 
ancient and time-worn hair trunk, which held De- 
light’s simple wardrobe, kept it company. 

Above their heads echoed the tread of many 
feet and as the music again struck up, these feet 
moved in a rhythmic swing quite new to their 
ears. 

“ I guess they’re dancing again. Hannah must 
have forgot all her Quaker bringing up,” re- 
marked Maria, with some disdain. 

Then a neat person in a white cap and snowy 
apron attended them, bringing in a trayonwhicli 
were various dishes of delicately prepared food. 

“ For the land’s sake! All those victuals for 
two folks ! ” exclaimed Maria. 

The waitress smiled, but said nothing, thougl) 
she poured them cups of hot cocoa and served 
them with the supply of meats and salads which 
had been hastily gathered from the banquet pre- 
pared for the invited guests. 

Delight looked curiously at the dainty sand- 
wich rolls, tied with bits of ribbon, and was puz- 
zled how to handle them. In this, however, she 


IN THE STILLNESS OF THE NIGHT 69 

was aided by the servant, who deftly slipped the 
ribbons off and heaped the rolls on the girl’s 
plate. She did this as if it were part of her 
business and with so kind intention that her 
charges felt an instant liking for her. 

Maria found her voice, and began a Hood of 
questions. 

“ Do you live here ? What kind of a party is 
it ? Is anybody getting married ? I thought 
the Hudsons were poor, but they’re awful rich, 
aren’t they ? ’’ 

Dalton, the maid, could not attempt replying 
to all the inquiries. She satisfied them as sim- 
ply as possible, without forgetting that the first 
duty of a good servant is to ‘Dnind her own 
business.” Yet she made them as comfortable 
as lay in her power ; urging them to eat heartily 
and, when they had finished, suggesting that she 
should show them to their room. 

“ For you must be tired with your long 
journey, miss, and I’ll take your bag. Please 
come this way,” she said, kindly. 

“ This way,” as they afterward learned, was 
by a dark back stairway, for servants only ; but 
both the travellers were glad to escape another 
passage through that part of the house where the 
guests were assembled, and when they reached a 
small chamber on the top floor felt a sense of 
great relief. 


70 


THE STORY OF DELIGHT. 


“Seems as if now I might get my wits to- 
gether,” remarked Maria, plumping her stout 
body into one of the two chairs visible. 

“ Is there anything more you’d like, miss ? I 
suppose I may be needed below,” said Dalton, 
preparing to leave them. 

“ No, thank thee. I just want to go to sleep.” 

“ Hinin. There’s one thing I'd like, though. 
I want to know how to turn out the gas. I’ve 
read about folks as green as I am smothering 
themselves by their ignorance. I’m not going 
to do that just because I’m ashamed to ask for 
information,” said Maria, glibly. She had quite 
recovered her natural spirit and was now in- 
clined to take a cheerful view of their recep- 
tion. 

“ I suppose thej^ were sort of upset, having two 
folks come in on them, unexpected like. And 
Parson Theron Babcock must have misunder- 
stood, about their unwillingness. He’s a sensi- 
tive old fellow and terrible free-handed himself, 
lie oughtn’t to expect folks that didn’t know us 
to like us as well as them that did,” she re- 
marked, though nobody replied. 

Indeed, Dalton had seemed to listen onl}^ be- 
cause she must and seized the first break in the 
other’s speech to explain : 

“This is not gas but electric light. You do 
this — and it’s out, or off. Turn so — it’s on.” 


IN THE STILLNESS OF THE NIGHT. 71 

(7^ “ Iluniph ! For the land’s sake. That’s as 

easy as falling oil* a log.” 

Even Dalton laughed, then bidding them good- 
night she immediately went out and closed the 
door behind her. 

“ Now, little Delight, thee undress and go to 
bed, quick’s thee can. Pshaw. That’s a narrow 
bed, and hard’s a rock. Think of my nice feather 
tick going down into all that salt water. Pm so 
flustered by things and all that’s happened since 
I left Seabury that I don’t feel as if I could shut 
a lash. It’s hot enough in here to roast an egg, 
besides; so I’ll just sit down by the window a 
minute to cool and calm off. Good-night, dearie. 
Thee needn’t lie so far over, right on the side- 
board. Indeed, if ’tis narrow. I’ll make out. 
One thing I’m glad of, though : that is that I put 
my money in thy trunk downstairs. I feel as if 
it was safer, under lock and key, than it was 
going round inside my dress. It got heavy, too, 
small bag as it might be.” 

“ Thee thought about it so much, maybe, made, 
it weigh — I mean Oh ! I’m so sleepy ! ” 

“ Sleep, then, child, and get good rested.” 

Delight obeyed, but Maria sat down by the 
open window and leaned her head against its 
frame to grieve over the comfortable wardrobe 
she had lost in Toddington Bay and the amount 
she would have to spend to replace it. But her 


72 


THE STORY OF DELIGHT. 


reflections soon ended in a j)rofound slumber, 
winch was broken at length by the chill that 
struck through her, from her long sitting in the 
November night air. 

It took her some time to realize where she was, 
and, though she still shivered, she sat for a 
moment longer looking curiously out upon the 
roofs and steeples of the city. At that hour it 
seemed as quiet as Seabury itself. Street cars 
had ceased to run and milk carts had not yet 
begun. All pedestrians had disappeared, and the 
house itself was “silent as the grave.” 

Wait ! What were those three men doing out 
there in what Maria called a lane. She was alert 
in an instant and drew the skirt of her gown up 
over her shoulders, resolving to watch them. 

Now beneath all the spinster’s matter of fact 
exterior lay a peculiar love for the romantic and 
adventurous. She knew it was a weakness, but 
she had always delighted in cheap and lurid lit- 
erature. Detective tales had been the relaxation 
of her prosaic life and held a deeper interest for 
her, no doubt, from the fact that she enjoyed 
them surreptitiously. Captain Danforth had 
used to buy them for her when he went across 
the bay ; and, because Aunt Delight had objected 
to them, Maria had secreted them in her own 
room and perused them after bedtime and at 
hours which would have shocked even “ Gentle- 


IN THE STJLLNE;sS OF THE NIGHT. 


73 


niciii Jim,” had he known of them. She was, 
therefore, just the person for the present 
situation. 

The actions of the men in the alley were, in- 
deed, suspicious. In the moonlight, from her 
attic window, Maria saw them approach the high 
board fence which separated tlie Hudson yard 
fi’oin the “lane,” and one of them tried the door 
which opened through the wall. It did not yield 
and, from their movements, she imagined this to 
be a surprise and disappointment ; for, after a brief 
consultation, one of the trio climbed upon the 
shoulders of a mate and reaching his arm over 
the top of the fence slid the bolt, which fas- 
tened the door, aside. Then they entered the 
yard. 

For one instant, as they walked directly, 
though cautiously, up the path to the basement 
door, Maria wondered if, after all, they might 
not be members of the family, belated for some 
reason. Then she as quickly rejected the idea, and 
returned to her former opinion. 

“ They’re burglars sure enough. I never ex- 
pected to really be a heroine, but, if those men 
are felonious robbers. I’m going to circumvent 
their burglarious intentions or my name is not 
Maria Disney ! ” 

In her excitement the alarmed woman whis- 
pered to herself, using the longest and most 


74 


THE STORY OF DELIGHT. 


blood-curdling words she could recall from her be- 
loved stories. 

“ What a chance ! It'll clinch my welcome in 
this household if I appear to it in the light of a 
rescuer. Besides, there’s the Boloson chest of 

drawers. If anything should happen to that 

For the land’s sake ! The trunk ! My money — 
my money ! ” 

The whisper rose to a sort of scream, but De- 
light was too soundly asleep, as were all the 
other gaiety wearied people in the house, to be 
disturbed by it. But the memory of her foolish 
confidence in the security of a trunk — as it now 
appeared to her — made her frantic. Till she re- 
flected : 

“ Maybe they haven’t found that yet, if they 
have really got in and I suppose they have. 
They didn’t go away, but they’re still as death. 
So ’ll I be. I’ll take off my shoes and stockings 
and my feet will help me feel where I’m going. 
Oh ! I must be in time — I must. Oh ! I can’t lose 
that — and live ! ” 

She rushed out into the hall, now totally dark 
because all rooms opening upon it had closed 
doors so that no light could penetrate it even 
from the street. But Maria had a keen memory 
and observant eye. She easily groped her way 
to the back stairway and made a rapid, noiseless 
descent of it. Her soft plump feet clung to the 


IN THE STILLNESS OF THE NIGHT. 


75 


polished steps and she grasped a handrail which 
ran along tlie wall, until the rail suddenly ended 
at the frame of a door. 

“This must be the bottom of the house. 1 
don’t seem to recollect that doorway, but it must 
lead somewhere. I guess it’s the bottom, and 
down in that cellar part is where I allow the 
burglars are yet.” 

At the very word her courage and ambition 
flamed afresh. She almost forgot the peril of 
her own especial fortune, as she reflected : 

“This is the chance of my life. I was born 
for it. Folks wondered what sent me trapesing 
off from Seabury township, at my time o’ life, 
but when they read in the papers, where it’s sure 
to be printed, how’t Maria Disney was a heroine, 
then I guess ! ” 

The room into which she had passed Avas 
wholly unfamiliar. It was even more densely 
dark than the stairway had been. She advanced 
toward its centre with extended arms and care- 
fully groping feet. After a few steps, the out- 
stretched hands touched another wall. 

“ It must be a little room, of some kind. I’ll 
feel round and see.” 

She kept her hands pressed against the wains- 
coting; hitting now and then a set of shelves, 
or some appurtenance that suggested a pantry ; 
and finally coming to an opening, like a door- 


76 


THE STORY OF DELIGHT. 


way. She paused a iiioiiient, listening intently. 
There was no sound, but down below, or through, 
this open space she caught a glimmer of light. 

“ This is either the way 1 came or some other 
way. That light means something — or nothing. 
I’ll step right ahead and see if it’s them !” 

With this resolution prudence forsook her. She 
ceased pushing one fat foot forward, as an ad- 
vance guard for her substantial person, but strode 
boldly onward into — space. 


CHAPTER YIII. 


THE HUDSON HOUSEHOLD. 

Delight awoke, shivering and frightened. It 
was daylight, and through the still open window 
a soft snow was drifting over the chair where 
Maria had sat to watch the burglars. 

Somebody was calling loudly and impatiently; 
and this outcry mingling with a peaceful dream 
of her old home startled her with a sense of im- 
pending danger. 

Then the calling suddenly ceased, the door was 
pushed open, and a small boy came in. 

“Well, my mother says, aren’t you never go- 
ing to get up. Are you the girl from the coun- 
try ? ” 

“ I’m Delight Roloson,” she replied, sitting up 
in bed and drawing the covers about her shoulders. 
“Where is Maria? Why didn’t she call me? 
I’m sorry if I have overslept and kept breakfast 
waiting.” 

The little fellow stared at her, and she re- 
turned the gaze, with interest. She had never 
seen anything as beautiful as he was. He was 
all in blue, in a natty little costume which even 

77 


78 


THE STORY OF DELIGHT. 


to her untrained sight suggested the extreme of 
fashion and his wonderful golden curls fell rip- 
pling to his waist. Yet his face was not rosy as 
a child’s should be and his voice had a querulous, 
unpleasant ring. 

Putting his arms akimbo he scanned her to 
his satisfaction : 

“You didn’t s’pose breakfast would wait for 
anybody, did you ? Why, everybody eats when 
everybody wants to.” 

Delight laughed. “ Then I shall be all right. 
I feel very much like eating and I will get up 
and dress, right away, if thee’ll go out and give 
me a chance. But, has thee seen Maria ? ” 

“ Oh ! she’s dead, I guess,” he said coolly. 
“ Aren’t you most froze with that window open ? 
I’m sorry you’re such a big girl. I hoped you’d 
go out and play with me. But you’ll be just as 
bad as Gwen or Gladys. And you might as well 
get up. I’m going to stay here and show the 
wa}^ down. My mamma says she doesn’t want 
any more excitements, she doesn’t. She’s about 
terribly prostrated, my mamma is. And my 
papa says you’re her folks, anyway, and she got 
herself into the scrape.” 

“What does thee mean about Maria? Has 
anything happened to her ? ” 

“ I guess there has. Lots. What makes you 
say thee to me ? ” 


THE HUDSON HOUSEHOLD. 


79 


“I always speak that way. What has hap- 
pened to her ? please tell me, quick.” 

Delight was up and dressing rapidly as she 
asked the question, but her informant took his 
own time in replying. He walked to the win- 
dow, climbed upon the chair and pulled the sash 
down. Presently, as she was tying her shoe, 
something cold and soft landed plump between 
her brows ; and the child laughed uproariously. 

She pressed the bit of snow into a ball and 
tossed it back with equal precision, but begged 
again : 

“ Won’t thee tell me what it is about Maria ?” 

“ Why, nothing. Only Say, Avill you go 

sliding with me in the park ? ” 

“ Yes. If I can. But Maria ? ” 

‘‘Oh! her. Well, she fell down the dumb 
waiter. My mamma thinks she was a crazy 
woman. She’s all broke to pieces. She was 
barefooted. She had all my silver in a bag. 
She’d smashed open that funny old trunk of 
yours and ripped the stuff off that old bureau. 
My mamma says she can’t have such goings on 
here and she’s gone off in an ambulance. My 
papa says maybe she was a thief. Ho. It was 
Dalton said that. Say, will you go out in the 
yard and make a fort, if the snow comes enough ? ” 
Delight said yes to every invitation, forgetting 
in her excitement and anxiety about Maria to 


80 


THE STORY OF DELIGHT. 


add the saving clause: “If I majo” But v’ hen 
she had finished her simple toilet and was ready 
to go downstairs she paused for a moment, 
folded her hands, and bent her head above them. 

Bertrand regarded her curiously, but some in- 
nate delicacy forbade him to interrupt, though 
the instant her head was lifted again his ques- 
tion was ready : 

“What were you doing, then?” 

“It was my morning worship.” 

“AV hat’s that?” 

“ Why— doesn’t thee know ? I was just 
speaking with God.” 

Bertrand’s dark eyes expressed his surprise. 
She certainly was different from any girl he 
knew. Then he volunteered : 

“ I s’pose that’s the same as saying your 
prayers. I said mine long ago. On my knees. 
Come, let’s go down.” 

Delight watched her little guide with equal 
curiosity. She, also, found him wholly different 
from any of the few children she had known 
at Seabury — Mrs. Morrison’s sturdy, untrained 
youngsters and the old sea captain’s grandchil- 
dren. 

As they entered the hall he turned toward her 
with the manner of a grown-up gentleman and 
extended his small hand. 

“You better let me lead you. Not being used 


THE HUDSON HOUSEHOLD. 81 

to our stairs and house. That’s why my mamma 
sent me up after you. Said she didn’t want any- 
body else falling down and breaking themselves. 
Was bad enough to have one. It’s trying to her 
nerves. She has delicate nerves, mamma has ; 
but she is the sweetest thing. This way, please.” 

They descended by way of the handsomely 
carpeted front stairs, of which Delight had 
caught but a glimpse on the night before ; and 
as they passed the now open doors of the various 
rooms she realized that their furnishings were 
of a kind very unlike the homelike simplicity of 
the ‘‘ Snuggery.” 

Every where, there was the disorder natural 
after any large company ; but white-capped 
maids were busy regulating, and in the parlors 
and reception-rooms some men were removing 
the decorations which had transformed them on 
the night before. Through the open front door 
she saw a florist’s monster wagon, into which 
other men were carefully putting the wonderful 
palms and potted plants that had made her 
“ fairyland.” 

“ Where are all the people ? Cousin Hannah, 
and the rest ? ” 

“ Down in the breakfast-room. Mamma doesn’t 
often feel able to come down till luncheon, 
but this morning she was so disturbed she might 
as well come as not. She’s got to have it over 


82 


THE STORY OF DELIGHT. 


with, she supposes, and might as well be now as 
ever. Then, maybe, she’ll get some rest.” 

This was nothing that Delight could under- 
stand, and probably it was as well that it was so. 
For she might not have been able to face the 
room full of strangers with so calm and bright a 
bearing. As it was, she was so interested in 
everything about her and so absorbed in anxiety 
concerning Maria that she quite forgot herself 
and this gave her an ease of manner which 
rather astonished her city- bred relatives. 

The breakfast-room was really half below the 
street, and one glance upward through the win- 
dows showed the park and its bushes heaped 
Avith snoAV. The Avarmth and luxury Avithin 
contrasted vividly. The table Avas loaded Avith a 
profusion of dishes Avhich suggested to Delight 
rather the remains of a Thanksgiving dinner 
than an ordinary breakfast, and Avas, indeed, a 
hasty gathering of the fragments of the late 
feast. 

Passing sAviftly toAvard the lounge, Avhere Mrs. 
Hudson lay on a heap of silken cushions, Delight 
bade her good-morning. Then plunged at once 
into inquiries after her old friend. 

“ I’m sorry thee had to be disturbed last niglit. 
Cousin Hannah, but I can’t make out Avhat it is 
the little boy means. He says Maria is hurt or 
even dead. What is it, please ? ” 


THE HUDSON HOUSEHOLD. 


83 


“ That dreadful creature ! Why did you bring 
her here, child? Surely, you haven’t been used 
to the luxury of a maid, all your life.” 

“ A maid ? I don’t understand. I didn’t wish 
her to come, that is, I didn’t know she was com- 
ing until she did. She was unwilling to let me 
leave my home alone, and oh ! won’t somebody 
please tell me what has happened to her ? ” 

“ Sit down. It tires me to see anybody stand 
and act so restless.” 

Delight dropped into the nearest chair and 
kept her hands folded, waiting patiently. 

“ Is it possible you heard none of the commo- 
tion in the house, this morning? or in the 
night ? ” 

‘‘ I heard nothing till the child called me.” 

“ Oh ! Bertrand. Yes. Well, it seems, or we 
suppose, that your old servant went crazy. To- 
ward morning, there was a fearful crash in the 
house ; and, when Mr. Hudson went to see what 
it meant, there was the creature lying on the 
kitchen floor. She had a bag full of silverware 
in her arms and had evidently robbed your 
trunk.” 

At this point Mrs. Hudson paused and looked 
appealingly toward a tall youth, who was lean- 
ing against the mantelpiece. “You tell it, 
George.” 

“ Robbed my trunk ! ” 


84 


THE STORY OF DELIGHT. 


“ That’s what we think. Dalton was the first 
to notice it. She also saw her put your money 
in the trunk last night when she was giving you 
your supper, and this morning the money was 
gone.” 

“ But I had no money in it. She put her own 
there, for she was tired of carrying it about.” 

George laughed, derisively. “ Had she so 
much?” 

“ Yes. She had all the savings of all her life.” 
“ Whew ! ” 

Where is she ? Mayn’t I see her ? ” 

“ She’s been taken to the hospital, long ago.” 

“ And what is that ? ” 

“A place where — why don’t you know any- 
thing of hospitals ? ” 

“No. Bertrand says she was hurt. How 
badly?” 

Despite her courage a quiver came to Delight’s 
lip and a terrible homesickness assailed her. 
Among all the persons in the room there was 
not one who regarded her with any feeling 
more kindly than curiosity. There was not one 
who did not feel her an unwelcome addition to 
their household, except it might be little Ber- 
trand who fancied she would make a good play- 
fellow. 

Glad3^s saw the trembling of the stranger’s lip 
and came forward. It wouldn’t do for her 


THE HUDSON HOUSEHOLD. 85 

mother to go through any further painful or ex- 
citing scenes, and if the girl was going to cry the 
crying must be averted. 

“ You’d better have your breakfast now. 
Dalton, please serve it,” she said as, in answer 
to a bell, the maid came in. 

Delight looked up at her eagerly. She had 
seemed friendly on tlie evening before and 
George had spoken of her seeing Maria after her 
accident whatever it had been. 

“ Oh ! thee'W tell me ! Everything. I cannot 
understand.” 

Dalton looked at her mistress who nodded ap- 
proval. 

“Well, then, miss, I was wakened by a dread- 
ful noise. 1 thought everybody was tired and I 
didn’t call anybody at first. But I went down 
into the basement to see what it might be about. 
There was the woman who came with you, lying 
on the floor, in her bare feet. She had a coarse 
bag full of the plate right beside her. She had 
gone doAvn in the dumb waiter, for it was all 
broken to pieces. That is, some of the shelves 
were smashed. The butler left it down last 
night, instead of fastening it up as he should. 
Your trunk was open, and the bag of yours she 
had put in it was gone. The back door was 
unfastened. Her arm and ankle are broken, the 
ambulance surgeon said, and her head is hurt 


86 


THE STORY OF DELIGHT, 


some way. She didn’t speak after I found her ; 
and I thought she was dead. So I called Mr. 
Hudson, and he had her sent to hospital as soon 
as he could. Will you have two lumps of sugar 
in your cup ? ” 

“I — the water will do. I’m not hungry. I 
want to go to Maria, right away.” 

Mrs. Hudson rose, languidly, as another maid 
appeared in the doorway, remarking : 

“ Your room is ready, Mrs. Hudson.” 

“Very well. I’ll go upstairs and try to rest. 
Gwendolyn, you must take charge of things.” 

“But, mamma dear ! This is my morning for 
kindergarten ; and afterward, the fruit and 
flower mission.” 

“ Gladys, then. And George, do go up and 
see to the florist. I’m not equal to arguing with 
him. Tell him to send his bills to the office. By 
mail, remember. Send them by mail. If he 
happened to call when your father was busy or 
out of sorts I don’t know what would happen. 
Oh! dear. What is it? Bertrand, why can’t 
you speak distinctly ? not talk as if your mouth 
were full of bread and butter.” 

“ But it is, mamma dear. Say, may I go out 
in the park ? May this new Delight girl go with 
me ? She said she would.” 

“Oh I anything. Anything for peace. Put 
on your reefer and leggings, and don’t forget 


THE HUDSON HOUSEHOLD. 


hi 


your gloves. You went out without them yester- 
day and I was so inortihed.’’ 

“I hate gloves. All the boys don’t wear 
them.” 

‘‘All 3"oung gentlemen do,” said Gwendolyn, 
catching up the little fellow and giving him a 
caress. “Oh! you darling! You are just too 
lovely for words. Isn’t he, mamma dear ? ” 

A faint smile illumined Mrs. Hudson’s delicate 
face. She must have once been very pretty, but 
was worn and almost haggard now. In soci- 
ety, she could still be animated and agreeable, 
but in her household life she was fretful and 
faultfinding. Her face had a look of continual 
suffering or anxiety and Delight pitied her. 
With real concern, she sprang up and offered to 
help the lady with the cushions she was piling 
“ Does thee want these upstairs, too ? Can I 
help thee ? Thee looks so ill.” 

For a moment the familiar speech and the 
ready helpfulness carried the care- weary woman 
back to her own simpler youth and happier days. 
Her heart almost warmed to the unwelcome 
guest and she did say, with a smile : 

“ How odd yet how natural ‘ thee ’ sounds. 
But I’d rather you finished your breakfast. Jane 
will carry these. Understand, all of you. On 
no account — on no account — am I to be disturbed 
before three o’clock. I must dress and go out 


88 


THE STORY OF DELIGHT. 


then ; but if I don’t get some rest soon I shall 
have nervous prostration.” 

George had already gone up to speak with the 
florist, who had furnished the floi’al decorations 
for the evening’s reception, and Gwendolyn also 
slipped away. Only Gladys, the girl so near 
Delight’s own age, and little Bertrand remained 
with her, as she made an attempt to eat the food 
which had been placed before her. But she soon 
gave over trying and crossed to the window 
to look out. She moved a filmy lace curtain 
aside, because it obstructed her view of the 
passers-by, and was instantly reproved by her 
young cousin. 

“ Mamma doesn’t like to have the draperies 
disturbed. It makes the house look so common.” 
“ Common ? To look out of a window ? ” 

“ In that way, well, yes. You can look through 
the lace easily enough.” 

Delight dropped the curtain and crossed to the 
chair where the other girl was seated, looking 
over the morning paper. 

‘‘ Will thee tell me a little more about Maria ? ” 
“ That tiresome thing ? What about her ? ” 

“ I want to see her. AYhere is the hospital ? ” 
“ I don’t know. There are several. I don’t 
really know which one she was sent to.” 

“ Does thee think she will die ? ” 

“ I don’t know, She was hurt badly, and she 


THE HUDSON HOUSEHOLD. 


89 


ought to have been. Robbing the people that 
gave her shelter.” 

“That could not be. She was not robbing 
anybody.” 

“ Then how came she downstairs ? ” 

“ I don’t know. Maybe she heard some real 
robbers and went to help protect the house.” 

“ How came she with the silver- ware close be- 
side her then ? ” 

“ What is a dumb waiter ? ” 

“ Come and I’ll show you. What a queer place 
you must have lived in, not to know about any 
sort of thing.” 

“ Oh ! maybe I do know about things, though 
not your sort. Aunt Delight used to say that 
what was suitable for one place wasn’t for 
another. The ‘ Snuggery ’ is the dearest house in 
the whole wide world, but it’s not at all like 
this.” 

“ Humph. How big is it ? ” 

“ Quite big. But this house is — tremendous.” 

“ Hot half as large as we need.” 

Delight opened her eyes in amazement, and 
Gladys explained : 

“ Times like last night, when we want so much 
room ; mamma saj^s we must have another place. 
Only this is in the real ‘ swell ’ part of the city 
so she doesn’t like to move.” 

When they viewed the brokeii dumb waiter or 


90 


THE STORY OF DELIGHT. 


“ lift,” as Gladys affected to call it, Delight re- 
marked : 

“ 1 suppose she stepped through that door in 
the dark, by mistake. But doesn’t thee see that 
she couldn’t get the silver and put it in a bag, 
after she had fallen ? Besides, Maria would 
never put such stuff away so carelessly. Every 
piece of ours was wrapped in flannel and packed 
nicely. She needn’t have broken the lock to my 
trunk, as thee sees it is, because she had the key 
herself. And she never would have scratched 
Aunt Delight’s chest of drawers like that. Oh ! 
I fear it is ruined.” 

The girl had peered beneath the wrappings of 
the ancient heirloom and discovered that its 
time-polished surface had been more defaced dur- 
ing that past night than in all the years of its 
previous existence. With a pang she reflected 
how grieved her great-aunt would have been and 
was almost glad that she was not alive to view 
the sacrilege. 

Gladys laughed. “ How funny to care for 
that old thing. Well, I must go out. I didn’t 
f;hink to tell mamma, but I promised Hannie 
Tucker to go down town with her this morning. 
It’s not worth while going to school to-day, any 
way. It’s so late. Mamma will not care, for 
Nannie Tucker is one of the ‘ swagger ’ set, and 
she’s al^vays glad to have me seen with the real 


THE HUDSON HOUSEHOLD. 


01 


stylish ones. By the way, do you know, you 
cany yourself finely. If you were not so out- 
landishly dressed you’d have quite an air.” 

“ Indeed ! That’s ‘ all Greek ’ to me, as ‘ Gentle- 
man Jim ’ would remark. But I’m glad if any- 
thing about me pleases thee. I want thee to 
love me.” 

Gladys stared. “ Why, of course. But none 
of us like ‘ gush.’ And you’ll have to drop that 
Quaker way of talking. It will attract unpleasant 
attention, it’s so outlandish. If you’re sent away 
to any school it would make people laugh at 
you.” 

The outstretched hand dropped to her side and 
Delight felt as if an icy wind had nipped her. 
But she instantly remembered what Maria had 
said about her being a stranger and remarked 
with a smile : 

“ Of course, thee can’t love me yet. But I’ll 
hope thee will, by and by. Yet I must keep to 
my plain speech. I couldn’t give that up, I 
think. Will thee tell me one thing that puzzles 
me? Why, when this is such a big house, did 
Cousin Hannah have to send my poor Maria 
away to that hospital ? ” 

‘‘ Why, you don’t imagine we could or would 
keep her here, do you ? If she hadn’t been hurt 
she might have gone to the station house, unless 
papa had disliked the notoriety. As it is 


92 


THE STORY OF DELIGHT. 


Why, the very idea ! Who of us would be willing 
to take care of such a creature ? and certainly none 
of the servants would. Besides, that room is so 
small — the absurdity of it. Of course, the hos- 
pital was the only place.” 

Will thee not help me to find out where 
it is ? ” 

“ I can’t, not now. I don’t know as mamma 
would be willing, anyway. Or rather, I do 
know that she would not. You can’t do her any 
good. Don’t forget to tell mamma where I’ve 
gone ; and if you’re fond of reading you’ll find 
some books for young people in the right hand 
bookcase in the library. I don’t have time to 
read, myself. Now let’s go upstairs. The girls 
want to clear up this room.” 

On the stairs they met Bertrand capped, 
gloved, and coated in most approved style ; and 
Delight was glad to see his sister stoop and give 
his sunny curls a loving twist and set his leg- 
gings straight. 

“ Oh ! you beautiful boy ! Don’t play with 
any of the side street boys, remember. Just 
keep with those that live on the avenue ; then 
you’ll be all right, and mamma will be pleased.” 

“ All right. Delight, will you come with me ? ” 

Gladys was running up the stair and did not 
pause to hear the answer, else results might have 
been quite different. 


THE HUDSON HOUSEHOLD. 


93 


“Yes. Gladly, if thee’ll show me the way 
to the hospital where they’ve taken my dear 
Maria.” 

A few hours later two very weary and be> 
draggled young people sat down to rest upon a 
wet bench in a park lying upon the very out- 
skirts of the big city. The little boy had kept 
up manfully as long as possible, acting as guide 
to the stranger, but now his collapse was com- 
plete. With a very childish and natural move- 
ment he threw himself into Delight’s arms and 
sobbed out : 

“ I guess I didn’t know and we’re lost — we re 
^ost ! ” 


CHAPTER IX. 


LOST AND FOUND. 

“ Lost ? Wh}^, dear, how can we be, just 
here in the daylight ? We’ll soon be all right 
again. Thee rest a moment in my lap and after- 
ward we’ll go on.” 

But presently even she began to feel the chill 
Avhich follows exercise, too long continued, while 
Bertrand was shivering visibly. His face, tear 
wet and lying against her shoulder, seemed ex- 
tremely frail and delicate and she reproached 
herself that in her anxiety about Maria she had 
been thoughtless of him. 

“Cousin Hannah said she was not to be dis- 
turbed for any reason else I could have asked 
her. But it can’t be far and I mustn’t let him 
go to sleep, out-of-doors, even if he is tired.” 

With that she stood up and set Bertrand upon 
his feet. He refused to use them and leaned 
upon her, fretfully. 

“I can’t. T can’t. You’re a nasty, bad old 
girl. I want to go home. I want to be carried. 
I can’t Avalk. I won’t try.” 

“ But, my dear ! Thee’s such a big, heavy 
94 


LOST AND FOUND. 


95 


child. I fear I could not carry thee, even if I 
tried. Cheer up. I’ni sorry now that we came, 
but we’ll soon be safe at home again.” 

‘‘ Isn’t your home. Don’t like you. My 
mamma said she didn’t see why you had to 
come. Oh ! dear ! ” 

A flush came out on his thin cheeks and his 
long lashes drooped upon them, lie was evi- 
dently worn out, and with the departure of his 
strength all his quaint, airs of premature manli- 
ness left him. llis words would have had a 
sting in them for the listener, if she had not 
been too anxious about him to think of her- 
self. 

“1 am unwelcome. I know that, and there’s 
no use trying to forget it. AYell, Aunt Delight 
planned it all for me and said it was best. Else I 
should not have come or been received at all, I 
suppose. But the first thing is to get this poor 
little midget home. I’m just as ignorant as he 
is, though so much bigger. It makes me think 
of the babes in the woods,” ran her troubled 
thoughts. Then she looked up and saw a car- 
riage approaching down one of the park avenues. 

“Wait here, dearie. I’ll step and ask the 
people coming to tell us the way home.” 

Propping Bertrand against the back of the 
bench she ran to meet the advancing vehicle. 
But, as it was apparently passing on without heed- 


96 


THE STORY OF DELIGHT. 


ing her, she pulled off her little grey cape and 
waved it frantically. 

The effect was greater than she had desired. 
The horses, which were high spirited and being 
driven rapidly to reduce that very spirit, checked 
their onrush and one reared suddenly upon its 
haunches. The coachman tugged at the reins, 
and the lady in the carriage screamed. Delight 
felt a touch on her hand and wheeling sharply 
found Bertrand at her side. 

“ Step back ! Step back ! ” yelled the driver, 
but the advice came too late. The child had 
sprung in the wrong direction, and another in- 
stant would have found him beneath those iron- 
shod hoofs. 

The lady in the carriage saw a flash of grey 
skirts, the sudden bending of a blond head, the 
tossing aside of a child’s body, and covered her 
eyes. But the frightened animals had now come un- 
der control and the footman leaped to the ground. 

I reckon she’s only stunned like, ma’am,” said 
he, a moment later, and the owner of the equipage 
asked to be assisted down. 

“ That was the bravest thing I ever saw ! ” she 
cried, bending above Delight, lying motionless on 
the asphalt. 

About the most foolish, too. Scaring horses 
that wajr might have killed us all,” murmurea 
John. 


LOST AND FOUND. 


97 


“ She saved the child’s life. AYhat a sweet 
faced girl she is, and looks like a Friend, so 
quaintly dressed.” 

But the servant made no reply, knowing that 
none was expected ; though he stood ready to 
obey orders when they should come. 

“ Lift her up, John. Carefully. Novvq while 
I hold her head, run to the spring and bring a 
cup of water. Break the chain, if it’s fastened, 
but bring the water any way.” 

lie was back in a moment ; yet even before this 
Delight had opened her eyes and was gazing con- 
fusedly into the face above her. Then her 
thoughts cleared and she smiled. 

“ What happened to me ? Did the horses kick 
me ? Is Bertrand safe ? Is he ? ” 

“ Here I am. Delight,” answered the child, for 
himself, bending a very frightened glance upon 
her. “ You shouldn’t have gone and run under 
the horses, you shouldn’t.” 

“No, dear. I shouldn’t. Only thee ran first.” 

She tried to rise, yet felt strangely dizzy and 
bewildered. 

But the lady was ready with assistance and, as 
soon as she was really upon her feet, the girl grew 
rapidly better. 

“ I think it was the pole struck her, ma’am. 
But I reckon she’s all right,” again volunteered 
John. 


98 


THE STORY OF DELIGHT. 


“Yes, I’m all right, thank thee.” 

“You are a Quaker, then,” said the lady. “I 
thought your dress expressed the fact. A\^here 
do you live ? There are not many of your peo- 
ple here, in Chester, I think.” 

“ I am living, or I came to live, at my Cousin 
Hannah Hudson’s house. That is Ho. 777 Ar- 
gyle Terrace.” 

“ Indeed ! Why I know of her ; but Argyle 
Terrace is a long way off. Away across the 
city. Several miles from here. How did you 
get so far ? ” 

“ We walked.” 

Bertrand’s manliness returned, for he felt him- 
self safe, now, with anybody who knew his 
mamma. 

“I brought her. We’re going to the hospital 
to see Maria. We got lost, that’s all.” 

“ And quite enough, 1 should say,” answered 
the lady, smiling upon the pretty child. “ But 
to what hospital were you going and who, pray, 
is ‘ Maria ’ ? ” 

“I don’t know. That is about the hospital. 
My little cousin, here, thought he could show me 
the way. Maria is Maria Disney of Seabury 
township. She came here with me and has met 
with an accident.” 

“She stole my silver and Delight’s money,” 
added Bertrand. “ She jumped down the waiter 


LOST AND FOUND. 


99 


and she’s crazy. I guess that’s why she goes 
barefooted in the winter time.” 

“Bertrand, did thee see Maria?” asked De- 
light, suddenly, her cheeks flaming with indigna- 
tion at the calumny heaped upon her old friend. 

“ N-o-o. But I heard, didn’t I ? ” 

“Yes. But I wish thee Avould not speak in 
that way. Maria is — I love Maria ! ” 

There was a silence, which the girl herself 
broke. 

“ I must ask thee to pardon me for keeping 
thee so long, friend ; but if thee’ll tell me which 
way to go to get back to Cousin Hannah’s house 
we’ll go at once. I’m sorry now that I didn’t 
ask the direction from the people we met, but 
Bertrand liked to have me trust to him and I 
thought he knew. Having lived here all his 
life,” she concluded, naively. 

“ Which is not a long while and the city is so 
big,” laughed the lady. “ But it is much easier 
to take you back to Argyle Terrace than to di- 
rect you how to reach it otherwise. Besides, 
two such innocents might be lost again. So, if 
you’ll both please step into my carriage, John 
shall drive us there directly. I hope your friends 
have not been worrying about you, as it is.” 

Bertrand ran to the footman who lifted him 
in and Delight followed the lady into the ve- 
hicle. The horses’ heads were turned in an op- 




100 


THE STORY OF DELIGHT. 


posite direction from that in which they had 
been travelling when Delight had frightened 
them and they set off at a swift pace. 

This was another new and wholly delightful 
experience to the country girl, and her spirits 
rose in response to the exhilarating motion and 
the beauty of the park they were traversing. 

“ Why, it’s like the country only — more so ! ” 
she laughed. “ Seabury is like it, yet without 
these beautiful trees. And those white figures 
are statuary, or statues, are they not ? But Sea- 
bury has the sea."^^ 

Such a wistful look came over the bonny face 
that the lady was touched. 

“ Tell me about your home, my dear, if that is 
it,” she said ; and with such evident sympathy in 
the subject that Delight’s tongue was promptly 
loosened. With a few graphic words, she intro- 
duced to this stranger her old friends, “ Bachelor 
Jim,” Esther Marlow, and the quaint grave-dig- 
ger, so that the listener felt she should know 
them should she ever meet them anywhere. 
From that to the tale of her yesterday’s adven- 
tures and the trouble that had befallen Maria 
Avas an easy passage ; and long before the drive 
was ended the new acquaintance knew as much 
as Delight herself concerning the unfortunate 
woman and guessed still more. 

So, when they reached the block upon which 


LOST AND FOUND. 


101 


the Hudson’s house stood, she remarked, quietly : 

“ If little Bertrand will get out here my man 
shall take him to his own door ; then I’ll beg to 
keep you a while longer and will help you to 
hunt up your injured friend.” 

“ Oh ! thank thee. How good thee is. But 
that’s what darling auntie said : That the world 
was as full of gentle hearts as of sunshine. 
Everybody was always very sweet to Aunt De- 
light.” 

“ Because she was always very ‘ sweet ’ to 
them, no doubt.” 

“ Yes. I think she was. I wish thee could 
have known her.” 

“ But since I could not, I am glad to know her 
great-great-niece,” said the lady, laying a caress- 
ing touch upon the girl’s folded hands. 


CHAPTEE X. 


BID PALMER HUDSON COME TO ME. 

The carriage drove slowly round and round 
the block while the footman escorted Master 
Bertrand to his mother’s door ; to leave him and 
explain where he had been found. Also, to 
“ make Mrs. Vanderhagen’s compliments, and she 
asked the courtesy of keeping Miss Roloson to 
lunch. The young lady would be returned in 
safety, some time before dinner.” 

Then the messenger came back and climbed 
into his place on the high seat ; where he imme- 
diately became a rigid automatic personage, after 
the approved fashion of footmen. 

Mrs. Vanderhagen rarely asked for information 
from her servants. When she did they as rarely 
failed her. 

“John, if a person had been injured as this 
Maria was, where — from this part of the city — 
Avould she most likely be sent ? ” 

“To Fair view Hospittle, ma’am.” 

“ Drive to Fairview.” 

This now, had Delight known it, was equally a 
new experience for Mrs. Yanderhagen. She was 
102 


BID PALMER HUDSON COME TO ME. 103 

a warm-hearted, sympathetic person, who gave 
largely to all sorts of charities of everything ex- 
cept — herself. The sight of sulfering was pain- 
ful to her, and the odors in the homes of the 
poor exceeding disagreeable. So she contented 
herself with dealing out dollars from her big 
supply of them, and in other ways taking life 
quietly. 

But something about the fresh-faced girl whom 
she had picked up in the park had stirred a 
deeper feeling. 

‘‘ I’d sooner do almost anything else, my child, 
than visit a hospital ; yet if you’re so anxious to 
see this ‘Maria’ I must go with you. You are 
too young and ignorant to go alone.” 

“ Oh ! I wouldn’t have thee go, then, for any- 
thing. I can surely get along. It’s only a big 
house, I suppose, where sick folks are cared for. 
That’s what George told me.” 

“ Who is George ? ” 

“ Cousin Hannah’s son.” 

“ Why didn’t he come with you himself, instead 
of letting his little brother ? ” 

Oh ! don’t blame him. I don’t suppose he 
knew. I had no chance to tell anybody except 
the little one.” 

‘‘Humph. But, child, how white you are. 
Are you ill ? If so, the hospital’s not the best 
place for you to visit, odd as that may sound. 


104 


THE STORY OF DELIGHT. 


I’ve been told there were always unpleasant 
odors and scenes in such a place.” 

“I feel a little dizzy, now and then. That’s 
all. Besides, at home, I used to eat very heartily, 
because 1 was out of doors so much, auntie 
thought. I think I forget my breakfast, pretty 
much, and then getting knocked down. That’s 
all. I don’t mind. Thee is so good to me.” 

“ That’s all ! I should say it was quite enough. 
John, turn through Broadway and stop at Bur- 
leigh’s. We’ll have lunch down town, first, and 
then take the sick one afterward. I am right 
hungry myself ; which is more than I often can 
say.” 

So the horses stopped before a fine building, 
in whose plate-glass windows were grouped many 
such plants as had decorated the Hudson parlors 
on the previous night; and where, had Delight 
known it, a meal would cost enough money to 
keep a Seabury household for several days, or 
even longer. 

But as yet she knew little of the value of 
things and only their novelty and beauty in- 
terested her. The famous restaurant had both 
these features in high degree. White costumed 
waiters obsequiously bowed the guests forward, 
into an inner handsomely furnished room where 
the tables were faultlessly arranged. 

At one of these little tables, in the pleasantest 


BID PALMER HUDSON COME TO ME. 105 

alcove of all, Mrs. Yanderhagen and her charge 
sat down — after what was, to the girl, a surpris- 
ing amount of attention in the matter of pulling 
and pushing of chairs and flourish of napkins. 

Then a bill of fare was placed before each, but 
as Delight looked curiously at hers and found it 
printed in some foreign language the lady smiled 
and said : 

“I’ll order for both, my dear; and what I 
think is best.” 

So, while Delight was still gazing about her, 
profoundly interested in every person and thing 
she saw, a simple but perfectly cooked luncheon 
was placed before them. Delight’s share of it 
was enjoyed to the utmost, and even the luxury- 
sated Mrs. Yanderhagen found a zest imparted to 
her own appetite by the other’s frank apprecia- 
tion of the delicate food. 

Then they were back in the carriage again and 
now there was nothing languid about the Seabury 
bred girl. 

“ I was so hungry ! It was so good. I thank 
thee so much. Does thee mind if I ask a great 
many questions ? Dominie Theron Babcock said 
that was the way to learn and I feel as if I didn’t 
know anything — I mean about all this.” 

“ Ask all you wish, child, and I will answer if 
I am wise enough.” 

So there was no pause iu the talk ; and words 


106 


THE STORY OF DELIGHT. 


flew back and forth between them like a shuttle. 
Some of Delight’s queries brought a smile to 
even the faces of the servants on the high seats, 
though they were as quickly banished as possible ; 
and for Mrs. Yanderhagen, she had not felt so 
much gratification in any companion she recalled 
as in this wide-eyed little maid, with her per- 
petual “Why? What? Where?” and her swift 
understanding of each explanation. 

Save for the worry about Maria, which was 
almost forgotten during that happy drive, it 
would have been a perfect afternoon. Yet now 
and again a thought of her would obtrude, and 
when the carriage was again brought to a stand- 
still before a high brick wall surrounding a group 
of large buildings Delight was both glad and sorry. 

“ Peters, you ivould better go to the entrance 
and inquire. Tell them we have come to see the 
woman who was injured at No. 777 Argyle 
Terrace. Her name is Maria Disney. We are 
her friends.” 

If poor Maria could have known and under- 
stood all this she would have held her head high 
in pride. That one of the wealthiest women in 
that great city should come to the door of that 
free hospital, where were received all the “ scum ” 
of the town, and send in her name as that of 
“ friend ” to the unknown countrywoman was 
amazing indeed. 


BID PALMER HUDSON COME TO ME. 


107 


Eut it did not seem at all strange to Delight, 
or that it was a thing to wonder at. To be kind 
was the rule under which she had been trained ; 
and that the possession of money or the want of 
it should make any difference in this matter of 
kindness did not enter her mind. 

“This way, madam.” 

Peters, who was experienced, would have liked 
to add : “ And I think it’s no place for you, 

ma’am ; ” but his duty forbade. 

The hard bareness of this anteroom, where 
visitors waited admission to the hospital proper, 
was almost appalling to a person of Mrs. Yander- 
hagen’s habit. The plain board floor, the narrow 
benches and uncovered table, with the few anx- 
ious faced people grouped about it, oppressed her. 
Oddly enough, they gave her sense of something 
like guilt, remembering the comfort of her own 
home. Besides, even here at the portal, so to 
speak, the air was heavy with that indescribable 
“hospital odor” which, inhaled for the first 
time, is apt to turn a novice faint with a name- 
less fear. 

Yet, offsetting this, was the exquisite neatness 
of the place— despite the coming and going of 
many feet ; the alert cheerfulness of the hospital 
attaches, and the passing glimpse of a white 
gowned nurse smiling good-day upon some fa- 
miliar guest. So, before she had quite made up 


108 


THE STORY OF DELIGHT. 


lier mind to turn coward and retreat, leaving 
Delight alone, the lady’s “ nervousness ” was set 
aside by the appearance of a linen coated mes- 
senger, announcing : 

“ You can see the patient inquired for, now, 
madam.” 

So they rose and followed their guide, through 
long uncarpeted halls, up bare and freshly 
scoured stairs, the “ odor ” growing stronger as 
they penetrated deeper into the heart of the 
place, and more than once, Mrs. Vanderhagen 
pitying herself for a “ soft-hearted simpleton,” 
who would much better have kept free from 
affairs that did not concern her. 

Not so Delight. Fair view, like all the rest of 
this new world into which she had come, was 
full of keenest interest ; though now, as in noth- 
ing before, was her heart stirred to sympathy 
and a desire to help. 

“ Oh ! the white faces ! Oh ! the pity of it. 
All ill, all in trouble, and I so strong ! ” 

Thus, as her companion’s mind had been half- 
troubled concerning her abundance of comfort, 
the girl regarded her own robust health. Till 
the thought came : 

‘‘ Maybe I can do something, some time, to 
help.” 

Maria’s bed was at the extreme end of the 
accident ward and was, like all the others in the 


BID PALMER DUDHOiW COME TO ME. 


109 


great room, a narrow iron affair ; plain but spot- 
less in arrangement. About many of the cots 
screens were placed, so that the faces of the 
sufferers upon them were not visible to the visit- 
ors ; and from here and there came loud or sub- 
dued groans and laments, Avhich betrayed the 
recently injured. 

Mrs. Yanderhagen’s faintness half overpowered 
her and a watchful nurse, seeing her pass, 
stepped forward and suggested : 

“ If you are not used to this sort of thing, 
madam, had you better remain here ? ” 

The lady smiled. “ Thank you. I am 
ashamed of myself, but I’ll overcome it directly. 
It’s my first experience, you see.” 

“ You would get over the shock if you came 
often, madam,” replied the nurse, and returned 
to her own post. 

Indeed, the unpleasant sensation was passing 
already and by the time the lady had followed 
Delight’s eager advance to the side of her old 
friend she had forgotten it entirely. 

“ Oh ! Maria ! Thee dear, dear woman ! I 
am so sorry, so sorry ! ” 

It Avas a very helpless and forlorn Maria Avhich 
lay before them. Her head was sAvathed in 
bandages, and her plump figure Avas rigidly out- 
stretched. One arm only Avas free, and the -full 
face was pale from pain. But she Avas quite con- 


110 


THE STORY OF DELIGHT. 


scions again, and about her lips played the fa- 
miliar, half-cynical expression Delight remem- 
bered so well. 

“ This is a pretty kind of a heroine, isn’t it ? ” 

“ Wh-a-t ? I don’t understand thee.” 

“ Likely enough. No matter. I’m punished. 
Aunt Delight didn’t believe in them but I would 
have them. If I hadn’t, I might have had sense 
and yelled. If I’d yelled it might have been that 
somebody else pitched headlong, instead of me. 
That’s what the nurse says. I don’t know. 
Last I remember I was sort of play-acting and 
stepped out right smart. The next thing — here 
I was. It’s a hospital. IIow did thee find me ? ” 

“ This lady brought me. Mrs. Yanderhagen 
is her name.” 

“ Much obliged to you, ma’am, I’m sure. Are 
you one of the family ? ” 

“No, I am not,” replied the stranger, with 
some decision. 

“Hmm. Didn’t know.” 

“ The visit must be short, to-day,” suggested 
the nurse, watching her patient’s face. “ You can 
come again.” 

“Can’t talk, even. Well — two things, then. 
Take the money out the trunk, little Delight, and 
keep it safe ; and say to Palmer Hudson these 
words : Maria Disney, of Seabury township, bids 
him come to her. Eemember,” she added, im- 


BID PALMER HUDSON C03IE TO ME. 


Ill 


pressively : “ Maria Disney bids Palmer Hudson 
come. They must have speech together. There. 
Go away. I’m tired, and I guess — that this is a 
sorry — pass — a heroine — Stephen Dan ” 

“ Oh ! what is it ? ” begged Delight, catching 
the nurse’s arm. 

“Nothing,” she returned composedly, “but 
what w’e anticipated. She will probably be deliri- 
ous, for awhile. \ye think she will pull through 
all right. Good-morning.” 


CHAPTER XL 


DELIGHT AND HER GUARDIAN. 

“There comes the lady’s carriage, mamma 
dear.’' 

A faint flush rose in Mrs. Hudson’s thin cheek 
and she glanced a bit nervously into the great 
mirror. But her attire was satisfactory, even to 
herself, and she waited, expectantly, for the en- 
trance of a desirable visitor. One whom it had 
long been her ambition to know. 

Yet, when the bell rang, nobody sought admit- 
tance save Delight Roloson and she was calling 
out in a brisk, cheerful voice : 

“Where is thee. Cousin Hannah?” 

“ In the drawing-room, miss,” answered the 
butler, and she followed the direction which he 
gave, for as yet the many rooms of the mansion 
much confused her. But she entered the apart- 
ment almost running and flushed with eager- 
ness and the chill of the outer air. Her bright 
brown eyes seemed equally ready to laugh or cry 
and her lips were parted to let out a flood of 
words. Her yellow hair that, despite its strict 
up bringing, would curl whenever it could escape 
112 


DELIGHT AND HER GUARDIAN 113 

bondage had broken loose from the braid in 
which it had been confined and rippled under 
her grey gipsy hat in a fashion so like Bertrand’s 
that it would have provoked admiration in some 
eyes. 

But not in Mrs. Hudson’s. To her it suggested 
only carelessness, and the disappointment she 
felt as she heard the carriage rolling away from 
her door gave her voice a more than customary 
peevishness. 

Child ! Has nobody taught you to enter a 
room differently and that loud calling out is vul- 
gar?” 

Delight stopped midway the floor and the 
eagerness died out of her face. 

“ Why, was that wrong ? I did not know it. 
I am sorry ; but I wanted to tell thee so much, 
and to ask if thee had been worried about me.” 
Then she added, sweetly : “ I suppose I am very 

ignorant of what people should know who live in 
cities ; but I will try to learn as fast as I can. I 
will, indeed.” 

“ Well, never mind. You can sit down quietly 
now and tell me where you have been.” 

“ I thought Bertrand would have told that. I 
hoped he would. But, of course, I have been to 
the hospital and have seen Maria. Oh ! my poor 
Maria! I fear she is very ill. Yet the nurse 
said she hoped she would pull through ; that 


114 


THE STORY OF DELIGHT. 


means, will live, I think. Why thee would have 
never known her with her bandaged head. Then 
she has some sort of plaster casts around her arm 
and her ankle. Mrs. Vanderhagen said it would 
be months, maybe, before she could walk or use 
her arm. Poor Maria, who was never ill in her 
life. That I know of.” 

“Well, I hope it will teach her a lesson.” 

“ Why, Cousin Hannah ! ” 

“ Delight, I think it would be better if — while 
you are here — you should say ‘ Mrs. Hudson.’ I 
am not especially fond of my name, anyway ; 
and I prefer the other form.” 

“Yery well; but I thought if thee was my 
kinswoman, as auntie darling said, that thee 
would be as glad to love me as I thee.” 

Delight said this very quietly, though with a 
heavy heart. Life seemed to open before her as 
an exceedingly puzzling matter. She had met 
the greatest kindness from a total stranger and 
an almost utter lack of it in the house of her 
friends ; but she was resolute to be happy and to 
make others so and the first help to doing this, 
at present, was to forget herself. 

Mrs. Hudson saw the trouble on her young rel- 
ative’s face and volunteered to explain : 

“ You must know. Delight, that our kinship is 
a very distant one. I do not even know the 
rights of it, but we are only far away cousins. I 


DELIGHT AND HER GUARDIAN. 


115 


believe that my husband managed most of our 
great-aunt’s money matters and I suppose that 
is the reason she felt she could send you to us. 
Otherwise, you have no real claim. But you will 
have to discuss all that with Mr. Hudson. lie 
knows exactly about your position, how much, or 
rather how little, property you have, and all the 
rest of it. Such matters tire me, so that I sel- 
dom talk about them. I leave it all to him. 

‘‘ How, I would like an account of your day, 
if you please. But let me here say that on no 
account are you ever again to take my precious 
Bertrand so far away from home. It would have 
killed me outright if anything had happened to 
him.” 

« Why, it was he took me,” answered Delight, 
in surprise ; ‘‘ and I, too, should have felt very 
unhappy if harm had come to him.” 

Mrs. Hudson waved her white hand. “I am 
waiting to hear.” 

“ Did he tell thee about his nearly getting 
under the horses’ feet ? ” 

Under the horses’ feet ! What do you mean ? 
Quick ! Was he under them ? ” 

“Nearly. I frightened them with my cape 
and I didn’t know he was there. But he was not 
hurt. They didn’t touch him. The pole, or 
something, hit me and made me dizzy. It soon 
passed, though. Then Mrs. Y anderhagen brought 


116 


THE STORY OF DELIGHT. 


US home, or brought him ; and because thee was 
so poorly and couldn’t go with me, and nobody 
else seemed able, she took me to see Maria. But 
first we went to a beautiful place, all flowers and 
little tables, and had a delicious dinner. I never 
saw anything so pretty, not even thy breakfast- 
room.” 

“Thank you. Did you happen to hear the 
name of this palace of delight ? ” 

“ The lady called it ‘ Burleigh’s.’ I saw that 
word, too, over the doorway, made out of colored 
balls.” 

“ Burleigh’s ? Burleigh’s ! Upon my word, 
you have done well for yourself. It is really 
very romantic. For do you know that that is 
the most expensive and stylish place in Chester 
city. Why, my own girls, even, never set foot 
inside that restaurant, to my knowledge, and 
they’ve lived here always. Hmm. If this begin- 
ning is a sample of what we are to expect — I 
don’t know what to say.” 

“ Say nothing, mamma dear ! ” said Gwendo- 
lyn, coaxingly, as she put her hand on her moth- 
er’s shoulder, and sank into the empty place be- 
side her. 

Delight looked at the young girl in frank admi- 
ration. Both Gwendolyn and Gladys were very 
pretty. They said unpleasant things to each other, 
in a peculiar way which nobody seemed to take to 


DELIGHT AND HER GUARDIAN. 117 

heart, jet there were occasional little touches of 
affection between them which Delight thought 
very sweet. They had been present all the time 
since her return, garbed as for an evening com- 
pany, but till now had taken no part in the talk. 
Even George, the tall elder son, had come into 
the room and stood lounging in his favorite pose 
against the mantel. Delight thought he had a 
nice face, “ if he would only look more alive.” 

“ No. Don’t say anything, pro or con,” he 
now remarked. “We are an aspiring family. 
We are well up to the social ladder, and who 
knows how high we may yet climb. Even a 
cousin from ‘ Way back,’ if she is given to adven- 
tures like this, may be of use. Really, Delight, 
you have astonished us all. I may say Delighted 
us all, but that would be a pun and not allowed 
here.” 

The stranger looked at him in such a puzzled 
manner that Gladys observed : 

“Don’t mind him, child. He thinks he is 
smart but he isn’t. You’re the smartest one 
present, for you’ve done what I couldn’t. I’d 
give anything to know that Mrs. Yanderhagen, 
she is so awfully rich. She has a fancy for 
young girls, too, and gives no end of little enter- 
tainments for them. Of course, I’m not ‘ out ’ 
yet but she’s worth knowing, I tell you. She’s 
a leader.” 


118 


THE STORY OF DELIGHT, 


“ She is very kind. If thee wants to know her 
why doesn’t thee go and see her ? I never saw 
a pleasanter person.” . 

“ Go to see her, uninvited ? That shows how 
little you know of etiquette. The idea ! Hinm.” 

At that moment dinner was announced and 
Gwen suggested to Delight that she should go up- 
stairs and make herself presentable. 

“ Put on a light evening dress if you have one.” 

“I have nothing better than this one, cousin.” 

“ Mercy ! Well, it doesn’t matter. You don’t 
know anybody yet so won’t have to come down.” 

‘‘ Except Mrs. Yanderhagen,” said George teas- 
ingly. “ Hark. Is that father coming in ? I 
warn you, girls, to take care. Something’s wrong 
with him to-day. He’s as blue as a whetstone.” 

Delight had not yet seen Mr. Hudson, her guard- 
ian, nor did he appear at table. She heard 
somebody remark that he had gone directly to 
his library and wished no dinner kept for him. 

“ I suppose all those bills have come in,” said 
Gwendolyn, coolly. “ He’s always like that, at 
such times.” 

After dinner, guests came and nobody urged 
Delight to remain in the drawing-room, where 
she had little desire to be. She was used to early 
sleep, and besides that could not rid her mind of 
Maria’s emphatic message : “ Tell Palmer Hudson 
to come to me.” 


DELIGHT AND HER GUARDIAN. 


119 


“AVell, I’ll bid Cousin — 1 mean Mrs. Hud- 
son, good-night, then go the library and tell him. 
After that to bed. What a strange day it has 
been and how far away dear Seabury seems ! ” 

To her tap on the closed library door nobody 
replied, and thinking it might be empty she 
opened it and looked in. 

A light was burning low upon the big table, 
and beside this sat a grey -haired man. His head 
was bowed upon his arms, outstretched along the 
table’s top, and he did not move at sound of her 
entrance. Delight paused, thinking him asleep, 
and afraid to advance or retreat lest she should 
disturb him ; but she was just drawing softly back 
into the hall when she caught the sound of a sob 
or groan which seemed to come from the depths 
of the man’s spirit. 

So she ran to him and laid her hand on his 
head. 

“ Why, friend, is thee ill ? Can I help thee ? ” 

He raised his haggard face, so white it fright- 
ened her. ‘‘ What is it ? Who are you ? ” 

“Why, just Delight. Delight Koloson. I’m 
sorry thee is suffering and that I came, if I can’t 
do thee any good. I had to come, though, be- 
cause she may be dying and it is her message. 
She bade me give it.” 

The man roused himself from his preoccupa- 
tion and stared at her absently, forcing his atten- 


120 


THE STORY OF DELIGHT. 


tion back to the present. As he did so and 
caught the plain speech a fresh spasm of pain 
crossed his haggard features. An almost forgot- 
ten memory arose and tortured him. In her face 
he seemed to see not hers alone but that of her 
dead father to whom she was so like. 

His expression frightened her and she anxiously 
explained : 

“Maria. Maria Disney from Aunt Delight 
Eoloson’s, at Seabury township. She came with 
me and was hurt here, thee knows, this morning. 
She is in the hospital. She said : ‘ Tell Palmer 

Hudson to come to me. ’ That’s all. Now, if I 
can do nothing for thee — good-night.” 

Then she went away ; but for long afterward 
her guardian sat gazing into vacancy, thinking 
thoughts that none might envy. 


CHAPTER XIL 


THAT, TOO, IS LOST. 

Mr. and Mrs. Vanderhagen sat at break- 
fast in their hojne and each was looking over a 
morning city newspaper. He, intent upon the 
quotations in stocks and similar matters ; she 
with an idle interest in society chronicles. These 
having been exhausted, she turned to the column 
of local news and read, in dramatic headlines, the 
statement : 

“ Failure of Palmer Hudson & Company. The 
Gold Street Speculator has met his Waterloo.” 

“Why, Blasius ! Do you remember my telling 
you, last week, about my meeting that .young 
Quakeress, or Friend, in the park? And of our 
visit to the hospital ? ” 

“ Perfectly.” 

“ She had come to live with those Palmer 
Hudsons who are making such desperate elforts 
to get into the ‘ four hundred. ’ ” 

“Yes. Well?” 

“ He’s failed, I see.” 

“ Ah ? That’s too bad. I’m sorry for him. 
Sorry for any poor fellow who goes under. Yet 

121 


122 


THE STORY OF DELIGHT. 


that’s the curse of speculation, as everybody finds 
out who tries it. Sooner or later, the crash. 
Another cup of coffee, please.” 

The lady filled the cup and returned to her 
reading. But, laying the paper down, remarked, 
reflectively : “ I wonder how it will affect that 

child’s life. She was the brightest, sunshiniest 
thing. I hoped to meet her again. Her fresh- 
ness did me good ; so different from the affecta- 
tion of almost all the girls one knows. When she 
talked of the sea I could almost smell salt water.” 

Mr. Yanderhagen laughed. 

“ You are not prone to such enthusiasm, Hen- 
rietta. Let us hope this failure will not bring 
misfortune to your little acquaintance. Well, I’ll 
be off down town. By the way ; there is a pic- 
ture sale at Hornbeck’s this morning. If you’ll 
drive down about noon. I’ll try and get off and 
visit it with you. We might pick up something 
good.” 

“Very well. I’ll do so. Good-bye.” 

The childless, grey-haired couple kissed and 
parted as tenderly as if they were but at the be- 
ginning instead of near the close of life ; and each 
was speedily busied with personal affairs, quite 
forgetting, after their brief comment upon it, the 
news of the Hudson failure. 

Yet at Ho. 777 Argyle Terrace was dire dis- 
tress. It was the knowledge of coming finan- 


THAT, TOO, IS LOST. 


123 


cial ruin that had bowed Palmer Hudson’s head 
so abjectly on that night when Delight had first 
seen him. Then had followed a few days of such 
anxiety to all concerned that they remembered 
them ever after as one recalls a nightmare. 
Sleepless nights and irregular meals made irri- 
table nerves and Delight would have been utterly 
miserable had it not . been for her daily visit to 
Maria. 

This Mrs. Hudson now provided for by sending 
Dalton with her in a street car ; and the trips to 
and from hospital were fascinating to the girl. 
Though there was little satisfaction in the inter- 
views with the sick woman, who lay mostly in a 
sort of stupor and but rarely recognized her 
visitor. 

“ The injury to the head was more serious than 
we thought,” the nurse explained. ‘‘ She will be 
ill, probabl}^, for a long time. Yet we still believe 
that she will finally recover.” 

Delight took what comfort she could from this 
and at home made fast friends with little Ber- 
trand, which helped them both. 

But, after the suspense of waiting, it was 
almost a relief to all concerned when the failure 
was publicly announced and the worst had come. 

At this announcement, Mrs. Hudson was not 
present, having gone to bed with a nervous head- 
ache, and her husband would not have her dis- 


124 


THE STORY OF DELIGHT. 


turbed. But he gathered tlie rest of the family 
together and in a few words told all. 

Gladys was always readiest to talk and now 
the first to inquire : 

“ What does it mean, papa dear ? Just what ? 
It sounds so vague ; and though I know it’s dread- 
ful trouble, from the way you and mamma act, I 
really do not understand. I remember the Grif- 
fiths ‘ failed,’ or I heard so, but I didn’t see that 
they were any different afterward.” 

“ The Griffiths were fortunate in having rich 
friends to set them on their feet again. Our, my 
collapse, is complete. We are ruined, utterly.” 

“ Yes, but what ? Just what?” repeated the 
practical Gladys. 

“ I do not own a dollar in this world. I do 
owe more dollars than I can ever hope to repay. 
This house is not mine. The clothes you have on 
your backs are not paid for. We will have to 
leave Argyle Terrace, almost at once, and Hea ven 
only knows where we shall find another shelter.” 

“ Oh ! father ! ” cried Gwendolyn, aghast. 

“ I gave you what I could when I could. I 
can give you nothing more.” 

“But we must go somewhere. We can’t all 
die and get out of it that way,” said Gladys, 
sharply. Yet her heart reproached her as soon 
as the speech was uttered, for the look her father 
turned upon her cut her to the soul. 


THAT, TOO, IS LOST. 


125 


Delight had remained a silent listener, until 
then, but her desire to help now overcame her 
fear of the stern man whom even his children 
seemed to dread. 

“ But, Cousin Palmer, why can’t we go back to 
Seabury? The ‘Snuggery’ is big enough for 
more than all of us.” 

“ The ‘ Snuggery ’ ! ” groaned Mr. Hudson. 

“ Indeed, it is a dear old home. So sunshiny 
and breezy and peaceful. Thee’d get rested there 
and forget all thy troubles. Why not ? ” 

In her eagerness the girl did that which amazed 
the others and what none of his own children 
would have presumed to do, so far away from 
him had they grown in their fashionable life. 
She laid her cheek against his and threw her 
arms across his bowed shoulders. 

He could not but be touched by her simple and 
natural action and, with a strange glance toward 
his pretty daughters, he removed her hand and 
gave it a gentle pat. But even a deeper gloom 
rested upon his haggard face, and though the 
bitterness was gone from his voice it had a ring 
of profound sadness as he replied : 

“ The ‘ Snuggery ’ has gone with all the rest.” 

It was Delight’s turn to gasp and grow white. 

“ What do I hear thee say ? The old home 
gone? How could that be? AVasn’t it mine, 
after Aunt Delight ? ” 


126 


THE STORY OF DELIGHT. 


‘‘With all the rest, that, too, has gone,” re- 
peated her guardian, as he rose and went away ; 
and perhaps the keenest pang the ruined man 
suffered came in the thought of her unwarrant- 
able loss and his own betrayal of trust. 


CHAPTEK XIIL 


AN heirloom’s command. 

The financial ruin of the Palmer Hudsons was 
as complete as the head of the family had said. 

“We are a good deal worse off than penniless. 
We are so loaded with debt that I can never 
again hope to stand upright and look my fellow- 
men in the face. Wherever we are to find shelter 
I cannot guess.” 

But one old friend who pitied them and had, 
it might be, helped to bring about the failure — 
since he had advised certain investments which 
turned out badly — came to their aid with the 
offer of a temporary home. 

“It’s a shabby, unrentable house on a side 
street. It will seem a wretched place to your 
family, Mr. Hudson, but such as it is you are 
welcome to use it — for the present.” 

Because they could do no better, they moved 
into it ; with such remnants of necessary furni- 
ture as the law allowed them and chattel mort- 
gages had not covered. 

Here Mrs. Hudson’s overstrained nerves re- 
laxed entirely and she took to her bed, in the 

127 


128 


THE STORY OF DELIGHT. 


best room of the house, a confirmed invalid ; 
and here, with their mother so helpless and their 
father glooming about in idle despondency, life 
seemed a blank and dreadful thing to the gaiety- 
loving children. 

But there were two to whom the change was 
an agreeable one : Delight — since she found her- 
self now supremely useful ; and Bertrand who 
was wholly and sincerely careless. Indeed, 
neither of these had ever been happier. Even 
Delight’s sunny life at the dear old “Snuggerj^” 
had not given her the satisfaction of this new 
and laborious one, wherein from sun-up till sun- 
down she must forget self and remember others. 

At last, one afternoon in late December, just 
before the night fell, she found a little time in 
which to tr}^ and put into some agreeable order 
the tiny back attic room which was her own — 
so-called. 

“ That’s the third time I’ve tried that bureau 
in that corner and that’s the third time it 
wouldn’t go. The dear beautiful old thing is 
like the donkey in ‘ Bachelor Jim’s ’ song. I’m 
afraid it’s a ‘ white elephant,’ and I almost wish 
it were back in the ‘ Snuggery.’ But, oh ! dear ! 
There is no ‘Snuggery,’ no auntie darling, no 
Maria — even ; no — anything ! ” and for a brief 
space a very grave look settled on the girl’s 
bonny face, as she dropped upon the floor, to rest 


AN HEIRLOOAPS C031MAND, 


129 


her elbows on her knees and her chin in her 
hands, in a favorite attitude when “ thinking 
things over.” 

But just then rose a wail, in the hallway with- 
out, which grew in volume continually. 

Delight cocked her head and so jerked her 
white dust cap jauntily awry, as she reflected : 

“ That progressive outcry can come from none 
other than my young Cousin Bertrand. He’s the 
funniest little chap ! ” But she sprang to open 
the door and peer out into the dimness of the 
passage. 

“Heigho, youngster! For the smallest boy 
thee can make the biggest noise ! What’s the 
trouble now, sir ? ” 

“ I played with the scrubber’s boy and he’s got 
my jackknife.” 

“ Yes? A very good thing, indeed. 

Bertrand came tumbling in, laden with a basket 
of kittens, a broken kite, and a syrup jug. He 
received Delight’s laughing comment with a 
puzzled stare. 

“ Why a good thing ? ” 

“Because thee cannot cut any more fingers 
with it. How many have I bandaged already, 
to-day ? ” 

The child dropped both basket and jug, which 
rolled against the bed’s leg, as he contemplated 
his rather grimy hands. 


130 


THE STORY OF DELIGHT. 


“ One, two, three, four.” 

“ And quite sufficient. Well, what am I to do 
for thee now ? ” 

“ See my kitty-cats ? ” 

“I see. Only too well. Whence came they 
and whither will they go ? ” 

Bertrand stared again, then suddenly threw 
his arms about the girl’s waist and exclaimed, 
earnestly : 

“ Delight, I love you ! ” 

“ That’s good. Why ? ” 

“ Because you’re so — so funny.” 

“A sensible and not too flattering reason. 
But about the cats. Let’s keep to business. 
Where did thee get them ? ” 

“ Beefsteak man.” 

“ What’s thee going to do with them ? ” 

“ Give them to you. That little mousey one 
is just beautiful.” 

“Hmm. Well, for the present, here thee 
goes ! ” with a strong swing, she lifted the little 
boy and deposited him in the middle of her nar- 
row bed. Then she gathered up the extremely 
young kittens and gently tossed the soft furry 
things into his lap. Last of all the syrup jug 
was picked up and examined. 

“ This is another new thing. Where did thee 
get it? Lucky it is empty.” 

“Bought it,” answered Bertrand, leaping 


AN HEIRLOOM COMMAND. 


131 


down, and strutting about with his hands in his 
pockets. “ I’ve got a lot more, too. See ? ” pull- 
ing out one hand. 

Delight regarded the few coins in the delicate « 
little palm with some anxiety. She knew there 
was very little money in that house and her 
own scanty supply had long ago been exhausted 
in buying fruit for Mrs. Hudson. 

“ Where did thee get them ? ” she asked 
gravely. 

“ Sit down and I’ll tell.” 

So down upon the floor again she dropped, for 
the one chair belonging to her room had been 
set away from the dust of sweeping. Bertrand 
placed the jug carefully upon the bureau and 
himself upon her lap. Then he looked up and 
laughed. So did Delight. 

Time had not improved the clearness of the 
ancient mirror above the heirloom, and it hung 
at an angle which foreshortened their reflections 
oddly. 

“ Why, we look just like him. All squeezed 
up together. You more’n me. He has a white 
cap, all crooked, and so have you. He has little 
yellow curls and brown eyes and so have you. 
He’s awfully jolly and so are you. I’m very, 
very glad I picked him out, ’stead of that other 
white image. A kind of Cupid, I guess ; but it 
wouldn’t hold anything. The jug man will.” 


132 


THE STORY OF DELIGHT. 


“ It is very nice. But I should enjoy hearing 
about the money, my dear.” 

“ Well, you know my jackstraws ? They were 
my own. My papa said so. I asked him. And 
there was a boy. He lives — somewhere round. 
He saw me have them and he said he’d give me 
a lot of cents for them. I was glad. I wanted 
to get a Christmas present for you.” 

‘‘ Oh ! thee dg^rling ! That was very lovely and 

unselfish of thee. Still Well, go on. All 

about it. Why, syrup jug, especially ? ” 

“ Two things. It was the biggest I could get 
for what I had. That didn’t cost it all. Then I 
told the milk-store woman it was for j^ou. And 
she said: ‘That sweet girl?’ and I said, ‘Yes.’ 
Then she looked all round and helped me choose 
it. It was the sweetest thing she had. Do you 
like it, Delight ? ” 

“ More than any gift I ever had ! And I’m 
glad thee didn’t wait till Christmas. Besides, I 
think that syrup is not so very costly and ma3^be 
thee and I can have our suppers up here, some- 
times, with the jug man to help out. He cer- 
tainly has a fine complexion ! ” 

“ Hasn’t he ! Such red cheeks and such a 
white nose. Say, Delmht ? ” 

“ Well.” 

“Show me the inside of it, now? You’re al- 
ways so busy.” 


AN HEIRLOOM'S C0M3IAND. 


133 


‘‘ And must be this minute. But ho\v could I 
refuse a dear little lad who sold his playthings 
to make me happy ? Wait. I’ll bring in the 
chair and thee can stand upon it to see.” 

So Bertrand was perched where he could in- 
spect the interior of the curious top of the old 
chest of drawers. In the first place the little 
mirror was, by the pressure of a spring, slipped 
down into the back in a most bewildering way. 
Then another spring was touched and the top 
slowly raised. 

“ As if,” said Delight, ‘‘ it felt the dignity of 
its great age and would do nothing lightly. 
Hear it creak! ‘Bachelor Jim ’used to say it 
was rheumatic.” 

Inside the polished, darkened top, was set a 
small brass plate, on which was engraved in 
quaint characters the even quainter triplet : 

“ Deare Daughtere Delight, 

Make Thy Life Brighte, 

As By Name Highte.” 

“ Isn’t it funny ! What does it mean ? ” 

“ That I must live up to my chest of drawers ! 

As all my ancestresses Oh ! what a long 

word ! — have done or tried to do.” 

“ How can a girl live up to a bureau ? I think 
it’s queer.” 

“I think it’s sometimes difficult. But — time’s 


134 


THE STOEV OF DELIGHT. 


up ! Thee really must go now, so that I can 
finish and put that lesson into practice.” 

“ Will I leave the kitty -cats for you to bring ? ” 

“ Surely not ! Put them in the basket and — 
disappear ! ” 

The girl’s spirits had risen to a high pitch. 
Into a rather discouraged mood had come her 
little cousin with his tale of self-sacrifice, and 
that he loved her well enough to make the sacri- 
fice had touched her deeply. It was almost the 
first expression of appreciation that had come to 
her, since her arrival in the Hudson household, 
and she now quite forgot all her anxieties. Like- 
wise her prudence. 

Bertrand started for the basement, and she 
attacked her chest of drawers with another 
sturdy push, trying to get it into a corner sev- 
eral inches too narrow. The effort and the rusty 
castors upon the bare floor made a rumble and 
squeak ; and at the instant came a scream from 
the hall. 

“ Oh ! Bertrand ! What noAv ? ” 

‘‘ Mew, mew, mew ! ” 

“ Child ! What is thee doing to those cats ? ” 

“ Putting them back in the basket. They won’t 
stay. They’re so squirmy and twisty.” 

Then another thump, thumpety thump, and an 
agonized mewing. 

“ Bertrand, thee must leave them alone,” 


AN HEIRLOOM'S C0M3IAND. 


135 


“ They won’t leave themselves alone. They’ve 
all tumbled out.” 

By this time the kittens had tottered on their 
weak little legs to the topmost stair, and one had 
wriggled over upon the next step. Delight 
laughed. 

“ They are funny! And imitation is flattery. 
Sir Tortoise Shell has tried to break his spine 
and now all the other little toadies are trying to 
break theirs. Well, let them wobble! That 
way lies the basement ; and if they crawl fast 
enough and fall far enough they’ll reach it with- 
out anybody’s help.” 

Bertrand was uncertain whether to join in 
the laugh or to cry ; but he did neither for a 
door opened in the floor below and a voice called 
out, shar])ly : 

“ Delight Koloson ! I should think you would 
be ashamed ! You’ve driven dear mamma about 
frantic with your noise. You are a horribly 
thoughtless girl.” 


CHAPTER XIY. 


IT MIGHT BE SANTA CLAUS. 

A SINGLE kerosene lamp burned on the centre 
table in the little back parlor of the new home 
in Harmony street. The bare floor was partially 
covered by a few rugs, and a scant supply of 
chairs were scattered about. On a lounge at one 
corner Gwendolyn lay with her back to the light 
and, for the most part, silent. When she did 
speak it was to reprimand her younger brother 
for the noise he was making with his marbles or 
to retort in monosyllables to some sharp speech 
of Gladys. 

Of all, only Delight was busy. She was knit- 
ting and the light glanced brightly from her 
flying needles to her sunny hair. She made a 
quaint and pretty picture in her grey gown with 
the white turned over collar and cuffs that had 
once been the pride of Maria’s heart to keep spot- 
lessly laundered. They were still clean, indeed, 
but showed they had been ironed by inexpe- 
rienced hands, as did the large white apron with 
which she protected her gown. But to her fash- 
ion loving cousins her attire was a continual an- 
noyance ; though its neatness and simplicity con- 
136 


IT 3IIGHT BE SANTA CLAUS. 


137 


trasted most favorably, had they known it, with 
their own clothing, now so out of keeping with 
their altered circumstances. 

Yet it was not of anybody’s apparel that 
either of the three girls were thinking just then ; 
and Gladys presently voiced the thoughts of all 
in her exclamation : 

“ So to-morrow will be Christmas ! ” 

“ Such a Christmas ! ” moaned Gwendolyn. 

“ Such a Christmas, indeed ! ” echoed her sister. 

Will it be so very different then, from all the 
others?” asked Delight. 

“Different! Humph I Maybe down therein 
‘ Seabury township ’ they didn’t keep the holiday, 
but we always have and oh ! so charmingly. Why, 
last year I made such beautiful gifts for each girl 
in our set ; then we had a Christmas Eve party, 
with a monster tree and loads of presents for all. 
Just one item, even: each of us two girls had 
fifty dollars for knickknack money, alone, be- 
sides our regular Christmas things. George had 
seventy-five, and Bertrand twenty. How — I 
haven’t a cent to bless myself with, as Dalton 
used to say ; and life is just — horrible I ” 

“Oh! Gladys!” 

“ Prove that it isn’t. Of all the people I ever 
knew you can get the most out of the least ; but 
surely even you can’t see anything very rose 
colored about to-morrow — here.” 


138 


THE S20EY OF DELIGHT. 


“ I do see a great deal. But — I mean, I wish 
I could show thee just how it looks in my mind, 
without the telling it. Talking doesn’t always 
help.” 

“ Try it, once.” 

“Well, if I had been living as — as Cousin Pal- 
mer did, owing everybody and dreading the crash 
that was sure to come, it would be relief to have 
it over. I couldn’t enjoy things that weren’t 
paid for. I shouldn’t think they were mine.” 

“ But we knew nothing of all that.” 

“Now that thee does know, how can thee 
regret getting into — into an honester way of 
life ? ” 

“ Do you mean to say that my father wasn’t 
an honest man ? ” flashed Gladys. 

“ No, no. I said nothing like that ” 

“ But you did mean it.” 

“ Never,” said Delight, earnestly, and fixed her 
truthful eyes on her cousin’s heated face. “ I do 
not presume to judge anybody ; but I think even 
Palmer Hudson is less worried now than before 
the failure. When I was dusting this room, yes- 
terday, and he sat here by the window, he talked 
to me a little. One thing I remember, for it 
made me laugh : ‘ When a man has reached the 
bottom he can’t fall any further.’ But, odd as 
it was, I do believe there was some comfort in 
it ; and, may I say something else ? ” 


IT MIGHT BE SANTA CLAUS. 


139 


“ Say anything. Free your troubled spirit, as 
it moves thee. That’s Quaker talk, isn’t it ? ” 

“ It’s — irreverence, I think,” interposed Gwen- 
dolyn, sitting up and facing them. “ And I 
think, Gladys, that Delight deserves something 
better at our hands than ridicule of her religion.” 

“ Oh ! I didn’t mean to ridicule it, and I didn’t 
know as it was religion. I thought it was the 
way she had been brought up. That’s all. I’m 
sorry, of course. But, I confess, Gwen, I don’t 
see what makes you take the role of reprover. 
You haven’t been especially kind to Delight, any 
more than I have. You’ve snapped her up, time 
and again, for making a noise or not making 
enough.” 

“ I know it. I’m sorry, and' I’m going to say 
right here. Delight, dear, that I have seen how 
much you do for all of us. You go into the 
kitchen and work and yet I don’t believe — say, 
child ! Did you ever wash dishes ivhen you lived 
there at the ‘ Snuggery ’ with your old aunt ? ” 

“ Yes, indeed. Many times. I liked it.” 

‘‘ The dirty soapy water and greasy plates ? ” 

“ Delight can’t complain of any too much 
grease here. It’s oat meal three times a day, 
seems to me.” 

“ Thee thrives on it. So does little Bertrand. 
I never saw such an improved small boy as 
he is,” 


140 


THE STORY OF DELIGHT. 


“ Improved ! He’s in trouble all the time. He 
is running wild on the street, mixing with all the 
butchers’ sons and the milkman’s daughtei-s. 1 
saw him in a regular listicuff row with some 
ragged child this very afternoon. He’ll be 
ruined and all his pretty manners spoiled.” 

“ He’ll grow up a deal manlier for the ‘rough- 
ing it.’ ” 

“ And than his brother George ! ” cried a 
mocking voice, as the youth himself came in. 

“ I hope so ! ” retorted Delight, merrily. 

“ Delight Koloson, where did you ever learn 
such heaps of wisdom ? At your age ? ” de- 
manded George, in real earnest. 

“ I’m not wise. I remember what auntie dar- 
ling used to say. That’s all. She loved manly 
men and womanly women. She used to talk to 
me a great deal as I sat sewing beside her. I 
hated sewing, I do still. She made me do it, 
though, and called those hours ‘ the discipline of 
the seam.’ She managed to teach me a lot, along 
with the hemstitch and the buttonhole. That 
makes me think. We ought to talk things over. 
Does thee know, George, that almost the last 
dollar of money in the house will be gone by the 
end of the week ? It may not seem that I should 
be the one to first speak of it, but Cousin Hannah 
told me ” 


“I thought all such matters were kept from 


IT MIGHT BE SANTA CLAUS. 


141 


her. Who’s been worrying her with that ? ” asked 
Gwendolyn, hastily. “ AVho has dared ” 

“ Invade your province ? Isn’t she our mother 
as well as yours ? ” 

“ Of course. But if you all knew how hard 
I’ve tried and how — bitter it all is.” 

Down went the girl’s head again and some- 
thing like a sob broke from her. 

“ Whew ! this is more than a fellow can 
stand ! ” cried the elder brother, and picking up 
his hat he went out, hurriedly. 

To the surprise of the others. Delight followed 
him as swiftly. They heard the outer door slam, 
open, and close again. 

“ What in the world ! If she isn’t the very 
queerest girl.” 

But in a few moments, both George and De- 
light reentered; he looking rather ashamed as 
well as amused, and she with a heightened color 
and that sidewise carriage of her head which, 
with her, indicated a mental conflict. 

There was an awkward silence, for the other 
girls felt that there was more in Delight’s action 
than appeared on the surface ; and to break this 
the brother inquired : 

“Well, Gwen. How went the kindergarten 
this morning? Don’t you always go there to 
help fix for Christmas ? ” 

“ It was on a piece with all the rest. Horrible.” 


142 


THE STORY OF DELIGHT. 


“ What do you mean ? ” 

“That — that, for the first time in my life, 
which I remember, I — was — snubbed ! ’’ 

“ And what snob, pray, did the snubbing ? ” 
asked Gladys, hotly. 

“What is the ‘kindergarten,’ cousin?” 

“ It’s a charity school for the little poor chil- 
dren that a lot of us rich girls supported. All 
the girls in our old set. I always gav^e as much 
or more than anybody else, and — but Koma Fiske 
was positively horrid. I saw her look me over 
from head to foot and her nose went up and up. 
Then when I said that I couldn’t come to play 
for the children, to-morrow, because mamma was 
ill, she caught me up as quick as a flash. She 
had a friend who would gladly take my place. 
As if I didn’t know it ! and that the girl had 
been trying no end to get among us.” 

“ But still I do not understand.” 

“You’re not usually dull. Delight. It’s this 
way : We clubbed together and hired a teacher, 
or director, for our school. Then to help her one 
or two of us pledged ourselves to be there each 
morning and play the piano, turn and turn about, 
during their ‘ games ’ and ‘ occupations.’ Two or 
three of us went, sometimes. I loved it. I did 
really love the little creatures ; but that’s all 
spoiled. I shall never go again, though I’d paid 
my dues for a year ahead, or nearly so long. 


IT MIGHT BE SANTA CLAUS. 


143 


When we wanted to refurnish the room, papa 
gave me the money ; and I only wish I had it 
back now ! The hateful thing ! ” 

Delight’s eyes had opened more and more 
widely. 

Observing her, George laughed. “ See her 
stare. What would a ‘ Seabury ’ girl do under 
such circumstances, eh ? ” 

Delight waited a moment. Then she said with 
an accent that Gwendolyn never forgot : 

‘‘ I wouldn’t be a coward because another girl 
turned up her nose.” 

All at once Gwen saw her own conduct in a 
new light. Had she been cowardly ? 

“ What do you mean ? ” 

“ Didn’t thee do it for ‘ charity ’ ? To help the 
poor little ones ? ” 

“Yes. I did, really. Because, more than any- 
thing else, I was interested in them. I love 
them. I cared more for my work there than at 
the flower mission even ; yet that’s a beautiful 
charity, too.” 

“ Then, Gwendolyn, if thee loves it and has a 
gift for it, thee shouldn’t turn tli}^ back on it, no 
matter what it costs thy pride. That’s what 
Auntie Delight would say, I’m sure.” 

“ I did have, I do have a gift, as you say. The 
director often told me ; and that she would rather 
have me to help her than any of the others.” 


144 


THE STORY OF DELIGHT. 


“ I can understand it. It is on a piece with 
thy liking to nurse Cousin Hannah. But, is thee 
sure ? Could any girl be so mean, so little as 
to ‘snub’ thee because thy father had become 
poor ? ” 

“ Plenty of them. Oh ! I was right enough in 
my judgment if not in my action. It would 
have been different if Bessie Hooper had been 
there. She’s the richest girl in the whole set and 
of a verv old family. She doesn’t dress at all 
well, but — somehow the rest are sort of afraid of 
her. Of offending her, I mean. She has the 
chance to throw lots of fun their way, or not ; 
as she })leases. Well, I must go upstairs to 
mamma.” 

“ But about the money ! How we are to get 
more,” exclaimed Delight. “ Cousin said there 
wasn’t more than enough to buy food for another 
week.” 

“ Delight ! It can’t be so bad as that.” 

“ I fear it is. Well, we must earn some. 
Doesn’t thee think so ? ” 

“ ‘ Thee ’ frowns on all my personal efforts,” 
said George, with meaning. 

She flashed him a glance of half anger, half 
contempt, but made no answer, and all further 
talk was prevented just then by the clanging of 
the harsh door bell, which rang as if a powerful 
and impatient hand were at the knob. 


IT MIGHT BE SANTA CLAUS. 


145 


George rose, reluctantly, but Delight observed 
this and went herself. They heard her open the 
door, give a scream that might be either fright or 
pleasure, and then there sounded along the pas- 
age the tap, tap of somebody’s crutches. 

“ It might be Santa Claus ! ” cried Bertrand, 
joyfully. 


CHAPTEK XY. 


MARIA ARRIVES. 

“ It’s Maria ! ” announced Delight, preceding 
the visitor into the parlor, and with a ring of 
pleasure in her voice. 

“ That — crazy — woman ! ” ejaculated Gladys. 
“ If that isn’t the last straw ! ” 

“Well, young miss, I reckon there have been a 
good many straws before I blew this way. Else 
I shouldn’t have come. My, but I’m tired ! To 
save my soul I can’t get the hang of these 
crutches. Come, little boy. Don’t stand and 
stare as if you never saw folks before but push 
that big chair along toward me. I’m hefty, and 
I can’t afford to risk any more of my bones in 
uncertain places.” 

Bertrand obeyed in silence. This might be 
Santa Claus, though under no form that he had 
pictured. Yet the newcomer had a sizable 
bundle with her, which might contain gifts, and 
it was as well to keep a sharp eye on it. 

Maria deposited her capacious person in the 
one rocker that the room afforded and heaved a 
sigh of relief. Then she laid her crutches down 
on the floor and sighed again. 

146 


MARIA ARRIVES. 


147 


“ Now, don’t all speak at once and say how 
glad you are to see me ! ” she laughed, and, in 
spite of their disgust, she had so shrewdly guessed 
at the thoughts of the household that they, also, 
laughed. 

At the sound of the bell Gwendolyn had 
slipped down to see who the stranger might be 
and was retreating upstairs again to report to her 
mother, when Maria intercepted her. 

“ Give my respects to Hannah Hudson and tell 
her that some folks have entertained angels un- 
awares. I’m not making any application of the 
words, as Dominie Theron Babcock used to say, 
after he’d given us the veriest hatchelling about 
our sins. That’s all. I know I’m not wanted 
but I had to come. Where my little Delight is 
there I must be. This night of all nights, when 
the whole village — I mean city — has gone crazy 
with racket.” 

“ I’m sure — ” began the society trained girl, 
politely. 

‘‘Hold on. Don’t say what you don’t mean, 
even to please a woman just out of hospital. I’m 
sure, too, but it’s not your kind of a ‘ sure.’ How- 
ever, that’s neither here nor there. I’ve come to 
tarry, for the present. Welcome, or unwelcome. 
And, for the land’s sake ! This is a mighty change 
from that other house of yours, now ain’t it! 
But I like it better. I certainly like it better. It 


148 


TEE STORY OF DELIGHT. 


could be made real cozy if a body used some 
gumption.” 

“ I’m afraid, Maria dear, that ‘ gumption ’ is 
just what we are all short of. I thought 1 knew 
ever so much about housekeeping, yet I don’t. I 
didn’t pay half as much attention at home as I 
should. I find that out now. But Gladys is a 
capital cook. She made an omelet the other 
day that was as nice — almost as nice as thy 
own.” 

“ Good enough. Well, it takes trouble to 
bring out the real stuff that’s in folks; and 
Gladys, you couldn’t have a nobler gift than 
cooking a good meal of victuals.” 

The girl shrugged her shoulders. Certainly, 
this person nmst be a little unbalanced in mind 
who called cookery a noble gift. 

“ Fact. As you, that have men folks to care 
for, will soon find out. Little Delight, who clear 
starched those cuffs ? ” 

“ I did, Maria.” 

“ I should think thee did ! Come here, child, 
and kiss me. For the land’s sake, but it does 
seem good to see a home face once more and to 
be out of that hospital. Not but what they 
treated me fair enough, and I got real well ac- 
quainted with the nurses and doctors. They said 
I’d healed remarkable. They expected that I’d 
be on their hands this long time yet. I would 


MARIA ARRIVES. 


149 


have been, too, if they’d had their way. My ! 
but they do enjoy it ! ” 

‘‘ Tell us. Enjoy what, Maria?” 

‘‘ Tinkering folks up, and making them over. 
Same’s Esther Marlow used to make over an old 
dress. Said you never got the good of clothes, 
the first wearing of them.” 

“I’m glad thee got well quicker than they 
thought.” 

“ So ’m I ! But I’ve healed crooked. That’s 
what’s bothering them. They’ve found I’m go- 
ing to be a regular hoppety-pat, all the rest of 
my days, unless I’ll let them take hold and break 
me to pieces again.” 

“ What does thee mean ? ” cried Delight, laugh- 
ing as Maria herself was laughing, even at her 
own misfortunes. 

“Just what I say. They’d like to snap my 
bones in two and set them over again, straighter. 
Thee must know I wasn’t a very good patient. 
I couldn’t keep still. I tried, but it was the 
hardest work I ever did. So now, ’twixt Pontius 
and Pilate, my broken leg is considerable shorter 
than its mate. Besides, I’d sell my arm for a 
new one, any day, and give something to boot.” 

All the young folks drew a bit nearer the 
rocking-chair. Their unwelcome guest had 
brought a new and cheerfuller atmosphere into 
the room. There was a look of homely kindness 


150 


THE STORY OF DELIGHT. 


on the plump face beneath the plainly brushed 
hair, and she wore her new blue print gown with 
an air of pride, calling attention to it by the re- 
mark : 

“I feel ver}^ much dressed up in this. Delight. 
Isn’t it a pretty pattern ? A lady gave it to me.” 

“ The last time I was there, thee didn’t tell me 
thee was going to leave hospital. Else, I would 
have come to fetch thee.” 

“ Hear her ! Fetch me ! When I’m the iden- 
tical woman that followed thee to Chester city 
on purpose to take care of thee. A nice mess 
I’ve made of it, too, haven’t I ? But that’s a tale 
not finished yet. Is Palmer Hudson in this 
house ? ” 

Her abrupt change of tone and manner sur- 
prised them all ; and Bertrand shrank away be- 
hind Gladys fearing this might indeed be a 
“ crazy woman,” as the girl had exclaimed. 

‘‘No. He has gone down town to — to meet 
some of — the creditors,” answered George, with 
hesitation ; yet wondering why he felt that he 
must be so explicit. 

“IVlaria, if thee would be better off, made all 
straight and sound again, shouldn’t thee let those 
doctors break the bones again ? If they would, 
after thee having said ‘No’ once.” 

“Oh! they’d admire to do it, even if I’d said 
‘ no ’ a thousand times. They’re not Friends and 


31 ARIA ARRIVES. 


151 


SO particular. They vowed, if I’d say ‘yes,’ 
they’d find a way this time to make me keep 
still, or know the reason why. They said I was 
a ‘ beautiful case,’ a fine subject. As sound as a 
nut. Yet here am I, lame for life, with nobody 
knows how many years before me. Enough, I 
hope, to straighten out some of thy affairs better 
than they fixed my ankle.” 

“ Maria, seems as though thee must be hungry.” 
“]^o, dearie. For a wonder, no. Thee re- 
members that I always used to be, doesn’t thee ? 
Well, I had a fine supper, I tell thee. There’s 
been a lot of nice women pottering around the 
hospital all day, getting ready for to-morrow. I 
declare it made me think of Thanksgiving at our 
‘ Snuggery.’ Where, since the Lord had taken 
all her own folks to Himself, Aunt Delight used 
to gather in about every soul in Seabury 
township that ivould come. Or, leastwise, them 
that didn’t have children coming to their own 
houses for the holiday. Eemernber the pies and 
pies and pies ! My ! But I’ve seen as many as 
three dozen fat mince pies, baked at one time, all 
stood round on the big pantry shelves ; and grand 
they were, too, if I did make them, as shouldn’t 
mention it. I reckon Cap’n Steve Danforth was 
thinking of those pies that time he asked me to 
come keep house for him. The idea ! ” 

A very queer look had gradually stolen over 


152 


THE STORY OF DELIGHT. 


little Bertrand’s face. In the old days when 
dainties were everywhere ready for his enjoy- 
ment he cared nothing for them. His indoor life 
had kept him from it ; but now, when there was 
nobody to attend him and he was allowed to run 
about all day in the open, he was always raven- 
ously hungry. How, too, by the strangeness of 
life, there was little for him to eat, except the 
simplest food. Suddenly, as Maria finished her 
description of the toothsome delicacies she 
knew how to prepare, his head went down on 
Gladys’ shoulder and a big tear sparkled on his 
cheek. 

“ Hello, youngster ! What’s up ? ” 

“Nothing,” he answered manfully. “I was 
only — I guess the light’s pretty bright.” 

“ And I guess it’s mighty dim ! ” 

Maria lost nothing of this little by-play. Said 
she : “ And I guess that boy’s hungry, even if 
I’m not. When did you have your supper, 
bubby ? ” 

“I’m not ‘bubby.’ I’m Bertrand Whittredge 
Hudson. I had my supper when the rest did.” 

“ So did I. That don’t hinder my getting 
hungry again sometime. I might be now, if I 
hadn’t had good victuals. Pshaw ! Let’s be 
plain spoke, as befits Friends. Who does your 
cooking now ? I mean, what this girl Gladys 
can’t do.” 


MARIA ARRIVES. 


153 


There was a silence. Then Delight replied : 
“ I do.” 

“ Oh ! niy fathers ! Then no wonder the child’s 
mouth waters to hear tell of decent food. In the 
old days at Seabury, thee was just about as mas- 
ter a hand at cooking as thee was at ironing ! 
Come on, bubby. Pick me up those crutches, 
and show me the way to the kitchen. I may not 
need any more supper but I shall want some 
breakfast ; and I’d like to look around and see 
what’s planned.” 

Delight laughed in a way that was good to 
hear. Maria’s coming, her adoption of her old 
“ I’m-taking-care-now ” sort of tone, seemed to 
lift a burden from her own shoulders. With a 
clap of her hands, she anticipated Bertrand’s aid, 
and placed the crutches in her old friend’s hands. 

“ Oh ! Maria ! I am so glad thee has come. 
Now all these dear folks can have a really nice 
Christmas dinner.” 

“ Humph. ‘ Dear folks.’ Then, I take it, thee 
isn’t so unwelcome as thee was.” 

“ I hope not.” 

“ She’s the mainstay of the house,” said George 
Avarmly; and this tribute, coming after Gwen- 
dolyn’s, set Delight’s heart beating to an even 
happier rhythm. 

Yet it was impossible for her to help smiling 
when Maria undertook the handling of her new 


154 


THE STORY OF DELIGHT. 


“ supports.” New “ hindrances ” she herself 
called them, and she was so round, so awkward, 
and so hasty, that the stiff pieces were contin- 
ually slipping out side wise, at imminent risk to her 
recently repaired anatomy. 

Finally, with an indignant sniff, she tossed 
them away. 

“ Give me your shoulder, little Delight, and 
you small sir, your hand. If I can’t get into the 
kitchen any other vvay, I reckon I can fall there.” 

“Just like Delight said the kittens could!” 
cried Bertrand, again feeling cheerful. 

“What makes city folks go and fix their kitch- 
ens down cellar for, beats all my first wife’s re- 
lations. But so long as it’s there, I s’pose I 
must go to it. Yet, so far forth as I’ve seen, 
Chester city can take a good many lessons from 
Seabury township and be the wiser for it.” 

The trio left the parlor ; and as soon as Gladys 
was alone with her brother she remembered how 
eagerly Delight had followed him, Avhen he had 
gone out a little while before, and asked : 

“ George, what made Delight run after you 
like she did ? She looked frightened. What 
were you going to do ? ” 

“ Break my word,” he answered, slowly. 

“ What do you mean ? ” 

“ Exactly what I say. I can tell you nothing 
more- I was going to break a promise and she 


MARIA ARRIVES. 


155 


guessed it. She wouldn’t let me lie, if she could 
help it, nor for fear of my being angry. I was 
mad, too. I about hated her.” 

“ Goodness ! She’s the oddest creature.” 

“ She is.” 

“ I just said so, didn’t I ? But how do you 
mean ? ” 

“ Because she is always absolutely true. The 
worst of it is she means to make the rest of the 
world live up to her standard, if she can.. She 
does not say much — just looks volumes.” 

“ But what were you going to do ? Tell me, 
please.” 

“ Get a Christmas dinner for you and the rest. 
If I could. I think I could.” 

“ Then I think you might ! But how ? ” 

Ask Delight.” 

“If you won’t tell me I don’t suppose she will. 
She’s as close as an oyster if she doesn’t wish to 
talk.” 

“ If she wishes to talk, in this case, I shall be 
very much disappointed in her. Hark ! That’s 
father’s key in the latch. Do you know, I think 
he will be anything but pleased to see this old 
woman here again.” 

Gladys ran into the hall. She meant to give 
her father a sort of Christmas welcome home, 
surmising the fact that his late “appointment 
with some men,” would have been a trying ordeal. 


156 


THE STORY OF DELIGHT. 


It had been, but it was as nothing in comparsion 
to the meeting which awaited him in the hallway 
of his own home. Where a poor and halfdielp- 
less old woman confronted him at the turning of 
the latch. 

So inquisitive Gladys was just in time to get 
an impression of another “ mystery,” beside that 
between Delight and George. For as the door 
opened to her father’s entrance, she heard Maria’s 
stern defiant exclamation : 

“ Ah ! Palmer Hudson ! I bade thee come to 
me ! Now — Idiave come to thee.” 

For an instant, the weary man turned as if he 
would again leave the house ; the next he had 
dropped into a chair and covered his face with 
his hands. 


CHAPTEE XYI. 


A DREARY CHRISTMAS EVE. 

For a moment, nothing more was said. Then 
Maria, lifting her hand from Delight’s shoulder, 
directed : 

“ Thee and the little boy go back to that room. 
Palmer Hudson will help me down the stairs, I 
think, since he and I have somewhat to discuss 
with one another.” 

Tottering where she stood, the lame woman 
waited a bit to see whether her request would be 
granted. Then the gentleman rose, offered her 
his arm, and carefully assisted her to the floor be- 
low. 

“ How queer that all is ! ” thought Delight, 
and to Gladys’ question: “Why, what have 
you done with her ? ” she could only reply : 

“ I’ve done nothing at all. She dismissed me, 
and Bertrand, too, the moment she saw thy 
father. I suppose they are old friends or ” 

“ Friends ! Papa and a servant ! ” 

“Hmm. Maria may have been our servant, at 
the ‘ Snuggery,’ but she was, also, my great- 
aunt’s close friend. I have a notion that she 

157 


158 


THE STORY OF DELIGHT. 


knows more about my family than I shall ever 
know myself. Thee should hear her old tales of 
Seabury. They are line ! ” 

“I dare say. But — what’s to be done with 
her? You must see that she can’t stay here. 
There isn’t room. It takes all that little second 
floor for mamma and Gwen, even putting papa 
in that back room. Up top are only George’s 
and my rooms, with Bertrand’s tiny one and your 
back one. There’s no place.” 

“ There’s the empty room in yonder,” said De- 
light, nodding toward the shut up front parlor ; 
which, despite their altered circumstances, the 
sisters felt must be furnished with the best of 
their belongings and kept in state for the corn- 
pan}^ which so seldom came. 

“ Our drawing-room ! We can’t give that up.” 
“ Then I do not know,” said Delight simply. 
She had reached a point where she could see no 
further, and wisely concluded not to worry about 
the matter. As she calmly resumed her knitting, 
Gladys again exclaimed, impatiently : 

I don’t see what you sit there like that for, 
as if you didn’t care. Something’s to be done, of 
course, and I notice, nowadays, that all the ‘ do- 
ing ’comes upon us two.” 

“ I think it will not any longer.” 

“ Why not ? ” 

“ Because Maria’s come.” 


i DREARY CHRISTMAS EVE. 


159 


“ That lame ‘ hoppety-pat,’ as even she called 
herself. One thing, I hate her. It seems as if 
her first coming was the beginning of our trou- 
bles. I won’t ever lay a finger on her to help 
her. I was indignant to see how she made Ber- 
trand do it. The darling ! He never had to help 
a servant before.” 

“ Gladys, I think the days for such ridiculous 
airs are past,” observed George, rather sternly. 

‘‘ For goodness sake ! What’s come over you, 
boy ? It’s not so long since you were the biggest 
‘ dude ’ a-going. As dainty as my lady and as 
helpless.” 

“ Well, then, I tell you there’s nothing takes 
the nonsense out of a fellow so fast as being a 
beggar — and worse.” 

“ George Hudson ! ” 

“ It doesn’t sound pretty, I know. It’s not the 
sort of speech to which all our once delicate ears 
have been accustomed. But it’s truth ; and De- 
light, here, is fast teaching me that there’s ‘ noth- 
ing so beautiful as the truth.’ Though, I confess, 
it all depends upon the point of view.” 

Delight’s color rose. She knew from the tone 
of his voice that George was still angry, and her 
needles flew the faster. But she resolutely kept 
her lips shut, though her own quick spirit sug- 
gested a cutting answer. 

After a moment she called Bertrand to her and 


160 


THE STORY OF DELIGHT. 


proposed that she should see him safely to bed, 
but he objected and preferred to drowse against 
her knee, while Gladys picked up a fashion maga- 
zine of ancient date and pretended to read. 

George stretched himself upon the lounge ; but 
the thoughts of all followed the murmur of 
voices which rose to them from the kitchen be- 
low, where Mr. Hudson and Maria were evidently 
holding a serious discourse. 

Finally the murmur ceased and Mr. Hudson 
came up to them. His face was very grave and 
pale and his voice trembled slightly as he an- 
nounced : 

“ Maria Disney will remain here as our guest. 
She is to be treated as such, in every respect. 
Remember that any discourtesy offered to her is 
offered to me. She wishes to see Delight. Good- 
night, all of you.” 

They listened in amazement ; both George and 
his sister recalling, distinctly, that on the night 
of her unfortunate arrival at Argyle Terrace 
their father had been the most anxious to rid 
himself of her presence and to have her sent to 
hospital. They remembered, too, that if he had 
not accused Maria of an attempted burglary he 
had silently assented to the probability of the 
fact, as suggested by the glib-tongued Dalton, 
and echoed by the policemen who had responded 
to her call for aid. 


A DREARY CHRISTMAS EVE. 


161 


“ If she were a thief then she is so still. Her 
having been injured doesn’t alter that fact. Papa 
certainly acts very strangely ! ” exclaimed Gladys, 
as soon as Delight had gone down in answer to 
Maria’s request. 

“ I wouldn’t discuss it, if I were you, Gladys. 
I fancy there is more in this affair than comes to 
the surface. Papa was guardian for Delight and 
speculated with her money as well as his own. I 
don’t know the law — I don’t want to know it. 
But maybe this hard-headed old woman does, and 
thinks she has the whip hand of us. Anyway, 
the best we can do — is to obey papa as nearly as 
we can. The poor old fellow has had awful hard 
luck no matter how we look at it. If much more 
worry comes to him he’ll be having brain trouble 
of some sort. Hark ! That’s Delight calling.” 

George went into the hall as he finished speak- 
ing, then repeated to Gladys : 

“ This Maria wants to see us both. It seems 
to be a council of war, or something like it. 
Come on and face the enemy.” 

They found their guest seated beside the range, 
poking at the ashes and cinders which had clogged 
its grate and put out the fire. 

“See here, lad. Show me the trick of this 
stove. I’m used to burn Avood down home. I 
haven’t got the hang of coals, yet, but I will in 
time.” 


162 


THE STORY OF DELIGHT. 


Gladys hated housework, and knew next to 
nothing about it ; yet during the past few weeks 
she had found herself — for the first time in her 
life — of real usefulness to her family, and had 
been proud of her necessity to them. Oddly 
enough, now that somebody else had come upon 
the scene arid quietly set her aside she resented 
the relief. So she interposed, sharply : 

‘‘ What can you do with a fire when you can’t 
even walk alone ? ” 

‘‘Time’ll tell, child. I guess I can manage 
somehow. If I’m crippled in body I must be the 
livelier in my ivits. Pshaw, son! From the fuss 
you make I don’t believe you know a mite more 
about the miserable thing than I do. It’s all 
guesswork with both of us. Never mind. We’ll 
get it cleaned out and in the morning I’ll conquer 
it or — let you ! ” 

An expression of such disgust rested on 
George’s face that everybody laughed. This 
made him ashamed of his own ignorance and 
pocketing his foolish pride he stripped off his 
coat and went to work. 

Maria looked on wdth grim approval. Of all 
the young folks in the house, besides, of course, 
her own Delight, she liked George best. He had 
developed a tone of manliness that was unex- 
pected and gave promise of great things. 

“Well, girls, while he’s experimenting wdth 


A DREARY CHRI8T3IAS EVE. 


163 


that ark of a stove My ! but I wish I had our 

little square one out of the ‘ Snuggery ’ kitchen ! 
— let’s talk over things. Take account of stock, 
and find out how we stand. Gladys, since you’re 
housekeeper, tell me exactly what’s in the house 
to eat. Cooked and uncooked.” 

It was not a long list and it was not a judi- 
ciously selected one. Maria sniffed at various 
items mentioned, such as nuts and raisins for des- 
sert when there were not enough potatoes for a 
first course. But she said little, and when all the 
available food supplies were actually brought out 
and placed before her she asked : 

“Is there a store open any where’s near? So 
’t we can buy some decent victuals ? If to-mor- 
row’s Christmas, I suppose there won’t be any 
chance of providing our dinner then. Besides, I 
like to have my turkey on hand over night, 
dressed and ready for cooking as it should be in 
the morning.” 

“ I think there are stores enough. Miss Disney, 
but I — my father — that is ” 

“ What in the world are you chopping your 
speech into such bits for ? I asked a plain 
question.” 

“ Very well,” said George, with an effort, and 
not without a glance toward Delight. “ IN’one 
of us young folks have any money to pay for a din- 
ner and I’d rather go without than ask my father.” 


164 


THE STORY OF DELIGHT. 


Maria almost gasped. Such a state of affairs 
as this was quite beyond her anticipation. She 
knew that Palmer Hudson had “failed” and 
that he had been compelled to give up his rich 
home as well as his business ; but that he was ac- 
tually poor, as she understood poverty, had not 
entered her mind. 

“ For the land’s sake ! For — the — land’s — 

sake ! ” 

“Well, I guess you see now. Miss Maria Dis- 
ney, that we are in no condition to entertain any- 
body, even — even you. Of course, it’s horrid to 
have you or anybody know ; but you forced it 
from us. Like George, here, I’d rather starve 
than ” 

“ Hold on, Gladys. I didn’t say that. I’ve 
no desire to starve, and of course, something Avill 
happen to set us going again. I mean, I hope 
papa ” 

Maria held up her hand. “ That’s enough. 
We’ll discuss ways and means later on. How, 
the stores are open, you say, and that’s more to 
our purpose. Delight, go to your trunk and fetch 
me my bag. The one, thee knows, with the money. 
Then all 3^011 youngsters ma}" go to market.” 

The request fell upon, apparently, unheeding 
ears for nobod}^ moved. Hot even Delight who 
had used to speed so swiftly on any helpful 
errand for another. The silence lasted long 


A DREARY CHRISTMAS EVE. 


165 


enough to make Maria look up from her study of 
the range’s intricacies and repeat her request. 

“ I say, child, get my money. I owe a lot of 
it, or a pretty considerable, for the new clothes 
the hospital folks saw to buying for me. Those 
in my bundle that I brought ; but when needs 
must — there’s nought but to obey.” 

“ Thy money, Maria ! Why — why — that’s 
gone. Long, long ago. Didn’t thee know ? 
Didn’t thee take it ? ” 

“ I take it ? What on earth, or how on earth 
could I ? Didn’t I lock it up in thy trunk that 
night we came ? And the next thing happened 
me was that I fell down the hatchway, or some- 
thing. Quit fooling. This is no time for 
pranks.” 

Delight flashed one triumphant glance toward 
George and his sister. They, she remembered, 
had scoffed at her declaration that the missing 
money which Dalton had, seen deposited in 
Delight’s trunk had been Maria’s own. They 
had all along believed that Delight had made her 
statement regarding it simply to shield her old 
friend. Since the silverware had been found be- 
side her, and all of it, the only loss, as they argued 
had been Delight’s, and so they had let the mat- 
ter drop. ]^ow they realized that their cousin had 
been correct and were too astonished to speak. 

“ Delight Eoloson ! What’s become of thy 


166 


THE STORY OF DELIGHT, 


tongue ? Is that the way Aunt Delight trained 
thee ? To not answer thy elders ? ” 

‘‘ Oh ! Maria ! I have answered thee the 
truth. Only the truth. The money is gone. 
Has been gone ever since that night. I lioped 
thee must have taken it, and I never asked be- 
cause thee was so ill, and, after that, I forgot it. 
It was thy own thee knows ; I did not like to 

meddle about it with thee. It seemed ” 

“ W ell ! What did it seem ? ” 

“ That thee might — I can’t say it.” 

“ I’ll say it for her. We all thought you 
took that money out of the trunk, yourself. 
That it wasn’t yours, as Delight said, but hers. 
Dalton saw it put in there and in the morning 
the lock was broken and the money gone. That, 
and finding j^ou with your arms folded around a 
bag of our silver, why — you must imagine, what 
we all thought.” 

“ Delight ! ” cried the poor woman, in a tone 
of anguished reproach. 

“ Maria, I did tell them. I did ! Over and 
over. They didn’t believe me, they laughed at 
me, and then I kept still. That’s all.” 

“Yes. ‘That’s all; ’and ever since, after I’d 
risked my life even to save your property, you 
have all been thinking me a common thief. 
Hmm. Well, Palmer Hudson! that makes one 
more account we have to settle.” 


A DREARY CHRISTMAS EVE, 


167 


So malevolent an expression settled upon 
Maria Disney’s face that even Delight, who 
loved her, for a moment shrank from her. The 
next instant it had cleared again, as she remem- 
bered all the heroic emotions with which she had 
descended the stairs, at Argyle Terrace, on the 
night of her misfortunes. 

“ W ell. That settles me — for life. I played 
the heroine, didn’t I ! Poor silly old woman ! ” 

Then she became so absorbed in her own re- 
flections that the others hated to speak, though 
all the time the kitchen grew colder and the half- 
filled lamp burned more dimly. 

Finally, Delight stole up and slipped her arm 
about Maria’s neck. 

The woman roused herself with an effort. 

“ Yes, yes, dearie. There’s no use sitting here 
brooding. If I knew where to go! if I had a 
dollar to pay my keep anywhere, if I wasn’t a 
poor, broken-down old woman — all the savings 
of my life — all — old — infirm ” 

To see Maria Dinsey weep, was consternation. 

“ But, dear, here we are and nothing to be al- 
tered. Kemember auntie darling and her say- 
ing : ‘ The Lord never shuts one door, but lie 
opens another.’ Does thee suppose thee could 
climb three flights of stairs to my little room to 
sleep ? ” 

“No. No, child. I’d thought that out, al- 


168 


THE STORE OF DELIGHT. 


ready. Now, you young fellow, if you’ve had 
mean thoughts about me, try to make up by de- 
cent actions. I’ve come to stay. First, from 
choice. Now, because I can’t helj) myself. Spilt 
milk can’t bo gathered up. That’s done and ended. 
But sleep somewheres I must. Fly around and 
hunt some bedclothes, and a cot or little bed- 
stead. Fetch them down here. This little back 
room ” 

“ The laundry,” explained Gladys, meekly. 

“ Looks as if needed laundering, itself. I’ll 
make it my bedroom, for the present. Fly 
around.” 

They did “ fly around,” and each contributed 
something from his or her stock, so that very 
soon the disused lower room was fitted up into 
at least a tenantable bedroom. Both the young 
Hudsons were grieved and ashamed of their suspi- 
cions concerning Maria, and this made their feel- 
ings toward her more kind. After all, her com- 
ing had diverted them, and if she stayed — which 
began to appear a wholly desirable thing — she 
might prove of the greatest comfort to them. 

George had the courage to go to her, at a mo- 
ment when the two girls were busy spreading 
the narrow bed, and apologize for his unworthy 
suspicions ; and she received his apology with 
more graciousness than he expected. 

“Never mind, lad. You may turn out all 


A DREARY CHRISTMAS EVE. 


169 


right, yet. You’re not to blame for your up- 
bringing, which has not been of the best, accord- 
ing to my lights. Now, all of you go. Leave 
me to think this matter out. Good night.” 

Even Delight did not linger, but followed the 
others upstairs, after having done what she could 
for the silent Maria, who had once more relapsed 
into a grim reverie. 

“ What is to be done ! What — is to be — 
done ! ” the poor woman considered, again and 
again. “ IIovv can I eat their bread after this — 
even if there were any ! ” 

But an answer was coming which none of them 
anticipated. Before the young folks had reached 
the parlor and sleeping Bertrand, there came a 
violent ring at the front door bell ; which was 
apparently answered, or at least accompanied, 
by a piercing shriek from the second floor. 

“ Why, that's Gwen ! What can have hap- 
pened ! ” 

Uncertain which appeal to answer first, they 
paused, while ring after ring sounded through 
the house, echoed once again by Gwendolyn’s 
shrill cry for help. 

“ Come — come ! Help, help ! ” 


CHAPTER XYII. 


THE DAWNING OF CHRISTMAS. 

Gladys and George echoed Gwendolyn’s cry 
and, seeing this, Delight herself opened the front 
door. But when she did so she found nobody 
visible between her and the street lamp, while 
the dark vestibule apparently sheltered no per- 
son. Yet there, so close to the inner threshold 
that she nearly stepped into it, stood a large 
market-basket, heaped with all sorts of Christ- 
mas cheer. 

The claws of a monster turkey protruded from 
a pile of sweet potatoes ; and some yellow celery 
tips nodded protectingly over a bag of scarlet 
cranberries. 

“ Oh the fairies ! ” cried the girl, laughing in 
memory of “ Bachelor Jim’s ” marvellous tales. 
“ Of course, though, there’s no such thing as a 
fairy — but how well this would answer for the 
work of one ! Gladys ! George ! Come — come 
quick ! Here’s Santa Claus in earnest ! ” 

He was coming, indeed, two steps at a time ; 
yet as he >reached her side, George did not even 
pause. He called out something which sounded 
170 


THE DAWNING OF CHRISTMAS. 


171 


like : “ Papa — dying ! ” and was off into the 
darkness, as fast as he could run. 

Delight’s heart almost stopped beating. All 
the events of the evening had come as a succes- 
sion of shocks, but this last was so great it made 
the others seem insigniffcant. She cpiite forgot 
to wonder how the basket of provisions came to 
be at their door, but took it up mechanically, and 
struggled with it toward the kitchen where such 
things belonged. Then half-way down to the 
basement, she recalled Maria’s decided dismissal 
of her and paused, irresolute. 

However, her old friend’s ears were keen and 
had caught both the lusty rings at the door and 
the frantic shrieks from above. She now heard 
Delight and demanded : 

“ Who’s there ? What’s the matter ? Come 
quick, whoever you are.” 

“ Only me, Maria. Wait. I’ll light the lamp. 
I know where the matches are.” 

Then followed swift question and reply and 
before the girl had spoken two sentences Maria 
was putting on the clothes she had just taken off. 

“Hear to me. Delight Koloson. Men and 
women plan — but the Lord does with them what 
He will. I’ve just been at my wits’ end. My pa- 
tience’ end, too ; and almost blaming God for 
that good thing — my life. I felt there was no 
more room nor work for me in the world — and 


172 


THE STORY OF DELIGHT. 


lo ! If ever in my life Pve been allowed to do a 
fair turn by any other, I’m put here to do it now. 
I don’t admire to liea}) coals of fire on my en- 
emy’s head, but when the Lord lights them and 
puts them into my hand and says : ‘ Heap ! ’ I 
guess I know enough to obey.” 

“ What is thee going to do ? ” 

“ Get to the room where Palmer Hudson may 
need my forgiveness. Help me along.” 

“ But about this basket. Shall we keep it ? ” 
“ There’s a card on it. Read it, if thee can.” 
“ Hmm. That says plainly enough : ‘ For the 
Hudson’s Christmas dinner, from a well-wisher.’ ” 
“ Take it and be thankful. Put the basket up 
high, on them pantry shelves, where no rats can 
get it. That’ll do. How, hurry.” 

It was wonderful to see with what ingenuity 
the crippled woman climbed the narrow flights 
of stairs between her and the spot where ^he was, 
indeed, sorely needed. She literally crept up 
them, dragging her helpless foot, like a dead 
weight, and with Delight close behind to prevent 
any mischance of slipping backward. 

“ Oh ! my husband ! ” wailed a white-faced in- 
valid, who had left her own bed for the first time 
in weeks. “ Is he dead ? Is he ? so sudden — 
without a word ? ” 

Maria had her crutches by then and awkward 
or not made swift pace to the lounge upon which 


THE DA WNINQ OF CHRISTMAS. 


173 


the stricken man lay. She had always been a 
good nurse and her hospital experience had 
taught her many things. 

“Fetch me a chair. 1 want to use my hands.” 

They thrust one under her, the crutches dropped 
with a clatter that nobody heeded, and she 
was instantly at work, loosening the clothing of 
the sufferer who did not appear even to breathe. 

The others watched her in an agony of dread. 

But after a moment's uncertainty she an- 
nounced with quiet decision : 

“ He’s alive. It’s a seizure of some sort. Send 
for the doctor.” 

“ George has gone. He’s so long ! Why doesn’t 
become?” 

“1 reckon it won’t make much difference. 
I guess this has been coming on some spell. It 
will take another spell to get over it. Slow 
works both ways.” 

“But he will get over it? He will. Miss — 
Disney ? ” demanded Mrs. Hudson, shivering with 
cold and fear. 

“Call me Maria, Hannah. Old times were 
better times than these. But though he’s not 
dying, thee will be if thee doesn’t get back to thy 
warm bed again, mighty sudden.” 

“ Oh ! I can’t go back there and leave him here.” 

“ Fetch me some hot water, one of you. Isn’t 
any? Get a fire started and make some hot. 


174 


THE STORY OF DELIGHT. 


The doctor will want it as well as me. Take so 
long? Use kindling. judgment. Put some 
water on in the teakettle — and be quick ! ” 

Gladys’ feet scarcely touched the stairs as she 
sped kitchen- ward, all her latent affection roused 
by this danger to her father. Gwendolyn slipped 
a shawl about her mother, and Delight caught 
up Bertrand, who had been wakened from his 
sleep in the back parlor, and had climbed to his 
mother’s room in a dazed terror of he knew 
not what. 

“Don’t cry, dearie, and make things worse. 
Thy papa is ill. That’s all. Maria says he will 
be better. Thee had best let me put thee to bed — 
quick as a jiffy. Then I can do things for the rest.” 

“Will it help? Will I be useful, like you. 
Eighty, dear ? ” 

“ Help more than anything.” 

So presently, the little fellow was in his own 
crib and unconscious of any sorrow, even that of 
a probably empty stocking on the morrow. 

“Mamma, dear, you must go back to bed. 
Miss — Maria and I will do all we can and George 
must soon fetch a doctor. Come.” 

“ I can’t. I cannot leave him.” 

“ Should think you couldn’t, Hannah. Thank 
the Lord I never had a husband, but if I had I 
rather think I’d stay near hand if he was sick. 
’Pears so, without having experience.” 


THE DAWNING OF CHRISTMAS. 


175 


Oddly enough, Mrs. Hudson resented this 
prompt agreement with her own decision, and 
petulantly exclaimed : 

‘‘ But you don’t know, Maria. I haven’t sat 
up a day since we left home.” 

“ Home ? Where are you now, then ? ” 

“ Oh ! I mean He is easier, isn’t he ? ” 

“ He’s easy enough. Most too easy to suit me. 
I’d rather he’d trounce around more than lie so 
still. Hannah Hudson, I’m plain spoke. You 
know it. AVell, then. I tell you that here’s real 
trouble. Real sickness. Hot hypochondria like’s 
been bothering you. If you’re a bit of the girl 
you used to be, rouse yourself. Put on your 
clothes and go to nursing somebody that needs 
it ’stead of your own notions. The Lord takes 
more’n one way to send His blessings ; and I be- 
gin to think that taking the money out of your 
purse — and mine, too — and taking whims away 
and leaving realities is one of ’em. Go dress 
yourself, any way. You can’t be ’round like this 
when the doctor comes.” 

When the doctor came — it was not so long 
after — he found all done that inexperience could 
have accomplished toward the relief of his pa- 
tient; and a frail but determined wife sitting 
head watcher by Palmer Hudson’s side. 

Why, my dear madam ! Are you strong 
enough ? ” he asked, in unfeigned surprise. 


176 


THE STORY OF DELIGHT. 


“ I must be strong enough. Oh ! tell rne what 
it is ! ” 

When the physician had diagnosed the case he 
gave as his opinion, which he qualified by a long- 
name that nobody understood : 

“ 1 think there is no immediate danger. Mr. 
Hudson will probably remain unconscious for 
some time. How long, of course it is impossible 
to say. In the meantime keep him as quiet as 
possible, and should he recover consciousness, let 
nothing of a disturbing nature be mentioned be- 
fore him. I will call in the morning, after 
church. If you need me before, send for me.” 

His manner was kind. He had known and 
attended them but a short time, since their re- 
moval into his immediate neighborhood, and his 
terms were cheap. It would have been useless 
to wait to send across town for their old family 
physician whose minutes were charged for at 
dollar rates, almost ; and who would not have 
served them better nor more quickly. 

When he had gone, Maria observed : 

“ Let us understand how we stand. I’ll stay 
up here to-night, being’s I’m here, and you may 
need me. But in the morning, if he’s no worse — 
even if he is — I’ll go down below where I’m 
fixed. It’s as much help in nursing to have the 
nurse’s victuals on time and tasty as ’tis to sit 
and keep flies off the sick ones. I’ll go be- 


THE DAWNING OF CHRISTMAS. 


177 


low and there — I’ll do the best I can, as the 
Lord decrees. You’ll be better, Hannah, too. 
You’ll forget yourself. You’ve all been living 
beyond your means, beyond your nerves, beyond 
— your station. Doesn’t sound pretty, does it? 
The truth, doesn’t, generally. But you’ve all 
some cause to be thankful, this coming Christmas 
Day ; and, maybe not the least — maybe not the 
least — is that your husband and father lies just 
where and how he does.” 

The words were strange and the tone solemn. 
It was, also, self-reproachful, though this none of 
them realized. 

“ What do you mean ? ” 

“Just what I say. The Lord has been here 
this night. He has dealt with me, and He has 
dealt with him — there. I planned different. I 
thought to take judgment into my own hands, 
but I was not let. ‘Vengeance is Mine, saith 
the Lord. I will repay.’ Almost, I can hear 
Aunt Deliglit speaking those words this minute. 
Hmm. I’m feeling queer myself. I’ll lie down 
somewheres. But who is going to be nurse 
here, beside Hannah ; or in case she gives out 
again ? ” 

Gwendolyn came out of the shadow where she 
stood. Her manner was gentle and humble. 

“I am,” she said, with a new and sweet 
dignity that almost transformed her in their 


178 


THE STORY OF DELIGHT. 


eyes. She took her place on the further side 
of her father’s bed and, during all that anxious 
night, neither faltered nor failed in her steadfast 
watch and exact obedience of the doctor’s di- 
rections. 

Meanwhile the stars paled and the daylight 
stole into the east. The churches all over the 
city took up a gladsome peal, ringing “ Good 
tidings” to hearts desolate and hearts gay; and 
moving, as they had never moved before, the 
souls of the little household in Harmony street. 

So Merry Christmas came to them. 


CHAPTEE XYIII. 


DELIGHT IS MISSING. 

Dinner was over in the Vanderhagen man- 
sion, and its owners were enjoying that comfort 
which waits upon a good digestion and a clear 
conscience. 

Mr. Vanderhagen sat dozing behind his paper 
and before the lire ; but his good wife had sta- 
tioned herself beside a window to watch the 
passers-by. 

“ I love to see them ; all looking so holiday- 
like. The little children please me most. Do, 
Blasius, dear, put down that tiresome reading 
and look out. There’s just snow enough to make 
new sleds skim finely, and for once the policemen 
are not interfering with the sport.” 

“Make terrible slippery walking for us, to- 
morrow. Law requires the snow to be taken off 
the sidewalks at once.” 

“ Who cares for such a law on Christmas Day ? ” 

“ Not you, apparently, dear. Well, you should 
feel satisfied. How man}^ hungry creatures, be- 
sides your own household, has your purse fed to- 
day ? ” 


179 


180 


THE STORY OF DELIGHT, 


“How can I tell? I hope nobody went 
without a dinner, that needed it. I sent a dozen 

turkeys to Fairview Hospital, a dozen to 

My conscience ! ” 

Mr. Yanderhagen laid aside his paper and 
joined her at the window. “ I hope your con- 
science enjoyed them, dear ! ” he said, teasingly. 

“ Look, Blasius ! see that girl ? ” 

“ I see lots of them. They’re as merry as the 
bo3^s and as sturdy. I’m proud of the young- 
sters of Chester city. There’s not a finer crowd 
to be seen anywhere. If — ” and he sighed, 
but in a manner that did not denote satisfaction. 

“ Yes, dear. But the Lord did not think best. 
I suppose, maybe, I wouldn’t have been a fit 
mother to little children. Who can tell? Any- 
way, children we have not; so there’s no use 
spoiling our own Christmas and grieving about 
unalterable things. At least we have each other 
and are lovers still ; which is more than some can 
say who have been wedded a quarter of a cen- 
tury. But — I declare ! It certainly is ! What 
is she doing in this neighborhood ? I want to 
see her. I Avish you could hear her quaint and 
happy speech.” 

“ My dear, avIio are you talking about ? ” 

“That girl in grey — away in the middle of 
the block. See ? Some little ones fell ofiF their 
sleds, and one of them must have been hurt, or 


DELIGHT IS MISSING. 


181 


scared. She’s stopped to set him right again. 
Now — she’s drawing him. My ! but isn’t she fleet 
and graceful ? How perfectly unconscious of 
everything except to give the child pleasure, and 
make him forget his trouble. There ! I knew 
it. It is — my little Quaker lass.” 

“ Hmm. The one that you found in the park, 
one day and went with to the hospital ? ” 

“ Yes. It certainly is she. There couldn’t be 
two dressed so quaintly and — now I see her face: 
it is that little Delight.” 

“She is an attractive looking maiden, surely 
enough. What a bright face ! Maybe she’s 
coming to make you a visit. Didn’t you invite 
her ? ” 

“ In a general way, yes. But I’d almost for- 
gotten her and supposed she had me, entirely. 
See. She’s looking around as if not certain of 
her whereabouts. I’m going to send out to her 
and invite her in, whether she were coming 
or no.” 

“My dear ! you are certainly enthusiastic. If 
you like her so much, why didn’t you follow up 
the acquaintance when first made ? ” 

“ Easy to answer. I Avas away, you know, for 
some time. Then company, and Christmas mat- 
ters coming along, I haven’t been able. Besides, 
I — really forgot.” 

But the warm-hearted woman was again wholly 


182 


THE STORY OF DELIGHT. 


interested in Delight, for it was, indeed, she who 
was peering at the numbers of the houses 
she passed, looking for some certain one ; and 
when presently a servant in livery approached 
her and respectfully touching his hat informed 
her that she had been recognized by his mistress, 
and that he had been sent to invite her in, if so 
be she had a few moments to spare, she answered, 
eagerly : 

“Why, of course, and thank thee. She was 
the lady 1 set out to find. I’m strange to this 
neighborhood and time’s very kind to show me 
the way.” 

The man bowed, assumed a rigidly upright at- 
titude and marched stiffly along at a little distance 
from the girl ; but in his heart was a kindly feel- 
ing because she had spoken so considerately to- 
ward him. 

Then he ushered her into the house, which in 
richness exceeded any of her imaginings, even 
though she had heard more than once Avhat 
wealthy folks “ those Yanderhagens ” ivere. 

For a moment her country-bred ideas made her 
a trifle abashed ; the next all consciousness of her 
surroundings was lost in the smile of ivelcome 
that lit the kindly face looking at her from be- 
neath the portiere. 

“Ah! little Delight! Welcome, and Merry 
Christmas ! ” 


DELIGHT IS 3IISSING. 


183 


The girl sprang forward and clasped the ex- 
tended hands with grateful eagerness. “ Thank 
thee for both. 1 was so afraid I should miss of 
the place, for thee must know I hunted it up all 
by myself, and I feel so proud ! I’m not wise 
even yet about city streets ; and has thee been 
right well since that day thee was so good to me 
about the hospital ? ” 

“ Well, indeed, but busy and careless. I meant 
to see you again, when I left you at your aunt’s — 
was it ? ” 

“ Ko. My second cousin once removed.” 

“ And are you well ? Though I need not ask 
that, your face is one glow of color and health. 
But tell me, is the life at Argyle Terrace as 
happy as that in ‘ Seabury township ’ ? You see I 
remember some things, even if I forget some 
others.” 

“ Oh ! we left Argyle Terrace long ago. I was 
there but a short time. Maybe thee doesn’t 
know that Palmer Hudson failed in business.” 

“ I did know but I had forgotten. So the 
failure was a real one, eh ? and affected his liv- 
ing.” 

“ Of course. We moved to a house in Harmony 
street ; and oh ! my friends are in such trouble. 
That’s why I’m here.” 

A gentleman rose and came forward from the 
recess where he had been sitting ; and to him De- 


184 


THE STORY OF DELIGHT. 


light was duly presented. She thought Mr. 
Yanderhagen quite as kindly as his wife, and 
went on with her story as freely as she would 
have told it to her alone. 

“ Then I can’t flatter myself you came because 
you wanted just to see me again, can I ? ” laughed 
the lady. 

Delight looked puzzled. Then she replied : 

“ Thee must know I would be glad to see thee, 
and that I could never forget all thee did for me 
that day we met. But it was mostly because I 
thought, I hoped, thee could help me now, that 
I came.” 

“ Another of Henrietta’s beggars ! ” reflected 
Mr. Yanderhagen, and waited what would come. 

“ In what way ? ” asked his wife and, despite 
her will, her tone hardened somewhat. She did 
not like to class Delight with those who impor- 
tuned her because of her money yet the girl’s 
own speech indicated this. 

“ I want to ask thee if there is not something 
thee has to do — that thee would have to hire 
done — which I could do. I want to earn some 
money.” 

“Child, is this necessary ? You are so young 
and, pardon me, so ignorant of what the world 
considers right and proper. You just said you 
came here unknown to your friends ; would they 
be pleased if they knew your errand ? ” 


DELIGHT IS 3IISSING. 


185 


“ 'N-o, I think they would not be pleased. 
Yet, I do not see that it is not right. They are 
very poor. Maria’s money all was taken, that 
night she was hurt. None of us know. Please, 
let me tell thee the whole, whole story.” 

She did tell it and* enlisted the sympathy of 
both listeners to the fullest. Mr. Yanderhagen 
felt a great pity for the unfortunate business 
man, thus sadly stricken down, no matter what 
his methods might have been ; while thoughts of 
people used to luxury having to undergo actual 
poverty disturbed Mrs. Yanderhagen’s comfort 
loving soul. As for Delight, herself, the lady had 
formed an instant and determined plan. 

But after the tale was finished she merely 
asked a few quiet questions : 

“ You say that there is no money in the house. 
Did neither of the parents have any on hand at 
the time of the failure ? ” 

Mr. Yanderhagen explained; 

“ People who habitually live beyond their 
means are always cramped for ready money. 
Doubtless what the Hudsons did have went to 
pay small and pressing debts. The man could 
not earn any more, as a differently trained per- 
son could have done. He wouldn’t know how ; 
nor would anybody willingly give him a position 
of clerk or assistant, since he did so badly for 
himself when he was his own master.” 


186 


THE STORY OF DELIGHT. 


“ It’s a hard world, Blasius.” 

“Yes, my dear. But a rather just one, after 
all. In his youth a man should eat his bread in 
carefulness lest in age he come to penury.” 

Delight felt her courage sink ; but she rallied 
and put the matter plainly. 

“ I can do fine sewing well. I do not like it, but 
I can do it. I can dust things nicely. I can mend. 
I can run of errands — which I should like best of all. 
I can write a fair hand though I’m rather poor in 
grammar. But I’m so young and so strong and 
so willing — if thee has nothing to put out to hire, 
can thee tell me of somebody who has ? ” 

“ Hmm. In good time we’ll talk of that. But 
I thought you came to Chester to go on with your 
education. Didn’t you tell me that was your 
great-aunt’s desire ? ” 

A cloud came over the eager, bonny face. 

“ Darling Auntie Delight ! Yes. She was 
anxious. She couldn’t spare me while she lived, 
for she knew it would not be long, at best ; but I 
was to make up for it afterward. Still — I think 
— I don’t know — but it seems to me she would 
now tell me to work instead of study. With her 
it was ‘ always the duty that’s nearest,’ when one 
was perplexed ; and isn’t the nearest duty I have, 
to-day, to try and help the Hudsons ? ” 

“ They were not so anxious to help you,” ob- 
served Mr. Yanderhagen. 


DELIGHT IS MISSING, 


187 


I mustn’t remember that.” 

“ Why not ? ” 

“ Because Aunt Delight said it would belittle 
one’s self to remember unkindness. Thee sees,” 
she laughed, “ I have a name that means a great 
deal to me. There has been a ‘ Delight ’ in the 
family ever since there was a family. Each wlio 
has been so called has tried to make her name 
typify her life. I’m the last now, and I want to 
try harder than any of them. To succeed even 
better, only nobody could ever hope to be half as 
wise and lovable as Aunt Delight who reared me. 
That’s why the old chest of drawers is handed 
down from one generation to another. To keep 
each in memory of the name — duty. I wish thee 
could see the dear old heirloom ! It’s too big for 
its present quarters, but I can never part with it. 
That is forbidden, even if I wished.” 

“ I will come and see it, if I may.” 

Oh ! will thee ? How glad that makes 
me.” 

“ Then I certainly will come. But, child, let 
us go back to the education question. It is 
imperative that a girl as bright as you are — 
pardon plain speech in one who isn’t a Quaker — 
it is imperative, I say, that you should improve 
the faculties God has given you. Your future 
life will be a deal more useful, in a broader sense, 
than if you give up study now for the sake of 


188 


THE STORY OF DELIGHT. 


earning a little money which would not even be- 
gin to support a family.” 

Delight’s face fell. She did not expect to earn 
any large sums, and she Avas quite ignorant of 
what it costs to live. A dollar to her seemed a 
big lot of money. 

“ How much, my dear, did you hope to receive 
for your labor ? ” 

“ I can darn stockings nicely, auntie said. I 
thought two cents a pair ; and as much as that 
for big holes in clothes. But ” — and her glance 
swept the rich apartment — “ it seems different 
here than it did in my little back attic room in 
Harmony street. Maybe” — ^yet she felt a sort 
of shock at the unthrifty thought — “ maybe thee 
doesn’t need to have thy stockings darned.” 

“ Ho, sweetheart, I do not. Hot noAv. In my 
early days my stockings Avere not only darned 
but ‘ cut over,’ a thing Avhich my oAvn servants 
Avould noAv disdain. But it may be because of 
those early careful habits that I am now able to 
make a proposal to you Avhich, I hope, may please 
you as much as its acceptance Avould me. Will 
you come here and liA^e Avith a lonely couple? 
Avho Avould try to treat you Avell, and Avho, for 
the sake of your companionship, AAmuld gladly 
undertake the expense of your education, and 
relieve your other friends of your support ? ” 

As the lady ceased speaking she flashed a 



" Will you come here and live with a lonely couple?’’ (Page 188.) 





DELIGHT IS 3IJSSING. 


189 


bright glance toward her husband. The adoption 
of a daughter had always been a step he had 
urged upon her, but she had never before met just 
the girl to satisfy her fancy as Delight now did. 
Even yet, she did not put the matter in the light 
of an adoption, until it should be tested, but as a 
pleasant way of spending some of that surplus 
wealth which her protegee so needed. Still, she 
waited the reply in more anxiety than she had 
supposed possible. Delight, bright, bonny, sin- 
cere, unspoiled — what a precious daughter she 
would be ! 

For a moment the girl was silent. She was so 
wholly surprised and, as the thought of what all 
this proposition might mean came to grow 
clearer in her mind, she became very grave. If 
her new friend had known it there was nothing in 
the world Delight now so craved as a fuller edu- 
cation. Since she had come to Chester and had 
had a little glimpse of what there was in the 
world to understand and appreciate her wish for 
knowledge had become a passionate craving. 
Already, at the few odd moments she could se- 
cure, she had pored over the discarded school- 
books of her cousins, and found — as all real 
students do — that tlie more she gained the less 
she felt she knew and the more she desired. 

But she had been well taught in self-sub- 
jection. Personal ambitions must give place to 


190 


THE STORY OF DELIGHT. 


what she believed her duty. With a little catch 
in her voice she answered : 

“1 don’t know how to thank thee. Such kind- 
ness is — it takes my breath away. And it al- 
most breaks my heart to say — I must not accept 
it.” 

Mrs. Yanderhagen also was silent for a space 
after this. Her own disappointment was a sur- 
prise to herself. She was accustomed to secur- 
ing whatever she desired and she now desired 
this girl very greatly. 

“ Why must you not ? ” 

“I know, I am sure I can do something to 
help my kinsfolk. Then there is Maria. She is 
old now, and followed me to Chester, only to 
meet with terrible trouble. She grieves contin- 
ually because she is lame. If it weren’t for that 
she says she could take service again with some- 
body. Be a housekeeper or something of that 
sort and so earn her own living. I can’t leave 
her even if I could them. But I do thank thee ; 
I beg thee will believe it ; and I should be so 
happy here. It is all so very, very beautiful.” 

“Well, then, little Delight, I will not urge 
you. But though I may not have stockings to 
darn I can find something else to do. I have a 
pile of old laces that have broken in places. 
They belonged to an ancestress of mine, who was 
more careless of them than she should have been. 


DELIGHT IS MISSING. 


191 


They are, of course, very old, but — anyway. I’ll 
let you try your hand at mending them. We 
will be business-like. If you will come at a reg- 
ular hour and devote yourself faithfully to the 
work I will pay you twenty-five cents an hour. 
When can you begin ? ” 

“ To-morrow, if thee wishes.” 

“ To-morrow, then, at nine o’clock in the morn- 
ing. I think you will be punctual.” 

“I will, indeed.” 

“ Then that is settled. Now, you must have a 
little supper with us, early ; after that I must 
send you home, lest your friends grow anxious 
about you.” 

But when the supper was over, Mrs. Yander- 
hagen remembered that she had given her coach- 
man a holiday and would have to trust De- 
light to find her own way back to Harmony 
street. 

“You walk to the second corner and turn 
across the park. The yellow cars pass within a 
block of your home and if you ask the conductor 
he will put you off at the right place. Good- 
night, and Merry Christmas. Here is a little 
parcel of sweets ; will 3"ou take them to the lad 
Bertrand ? ” 

So, loaded with a generous package of dainties, 
the happy girl started toward Harmony street ; 
and at the corner turned to wave her hand in 


192 


THE STORY OF DELIGHT. 


farewell to the white-haired lady who watched 
her from the window. 

Yet at nine o’clock on the next morning, she 
did not reappear ; and as the day wore on Mrs. 
Yanderhagen felt strangely uneasy. “I did not 
think she would lightly break her word,” re- 
flected she, “ but perhaps she has been forbidden 
to come. Well, of course, I cannot, at present, 
interfere in the matter. I must wait and watch. 
Though I declare I did not dream I did love her 
so dearl}^, already. The happy, innocent dar- 
ling.” 

A few days passed, and again she held an ar- 
gument with herself. “Of course she should 
come to me, not make me go to her, but I am 
terribly worried, though Blasius says that’s all non- 
sense. Anyway, when I go out to exercise the 
horses this afternoon I’ll drive to Harmony 
street and inquire. As well take the air in that 
direction as in a more fashionable one. Then, if 
the Hudsons — silly things! — have objected to her 
working for hire I can make that right with 
them. Certainly, I will go ; for in despite of my 
common sense, I am getting nervously anxious to 
understand her failure.” 

Yet when, in due time, her footman rang the 
bell at the new home of her protegee, it was an 
almost distracted woman who answered the 
summons. 


DELIGHT IS MISSING. 


193 


Even before the door was opened one could 
hear her eager cry : 

“ Oh ! Delight ! my darling ! has thee come ? ” 

But at sight of the liveried servant she would 
have closed it in his face, so frantic was her dis- 
appointment. 

“Is Miss Koloson at home?” he demanded, 
just in time. 

“ No ! no ! and only the Lord knows where she 


CHAPTEE XIX. 


A CHANCE MEETING. 

Delight walked briskly away from the Yan- 
derhagens’ home, her face bright with anticipa- 
tion of little Bertrand’s pleasure at sight of his 
gifts, and her heart aglow with pride in her own 
success. 

“How splendid it will be to earn money, 
really earn it, by my own industry. So that I 
can help my poor cousins a little. Then they 
will be quite, quite glad to have me, and they 
will believe that I do love them and want them 
to love me. I’m sure they do, though, more 
than at first. Well, it has been a happy Christ- 
mas day, after all ; even despite the troubles 
which came with it. Wait ! I forget, while I’m 
thinking so fast, which way Mrs. Yanderhagen 
told me to go. Was it that corner yonder ? Or 
this ? It was a yellow car, she said. I will stop 
and watch for one, for there’s a car track on that 
further street.” 

But while she paused, considering, an easy 
way out of her quandary seemed opened. For 
a voice that was familiar called eagerly, yet with 
194 


A CHANCE MEETING. 


195 


a sort of hesitation, too, had Delight been keen 
enough to observe this — as if the summons were 
given almost against the speaker’s will. 

“ Miss Eoloson ! Oh ! Miss Eoloson ! ” 

Delight was getting accustomed to hearing 
herself addressed as “ Miss,” though she felt she 
should never like it ; but she recognized the voice 
and turned eagerly, as to meet an old friend : 

“ Why, Dalton ! Thee here ? ” 

“Yes, indeed. I saw you go to Mrs. Yander- 
hagen’s and followed you there. I waited for you 
to come out but you were so swift I couldn’t catch 
up with you as you ran down the steps and along 
the block. My ! I’ve fairly lost my breath ! ” 

“ Why, did I run ? I didn’t know it, for Cousin 
Hannah would be quite shocked to find so large a 
girl as I could do so unladylike a thing. But I 
was anxious to get back to them all and it is 
growing late. Is thee going my way ? ” 

“ JSTo ; but I want — I want — you — to go mine,” 
half gasped the woman. 

“ What a pity thee hurried so ; if thee had 
called to me sooner I would have stopped.” 

“ I did. But ” Dalton cut short her own 

speech and regarded the girl with a curious 
scrutiny. 

Delight had never appeared more winning and 
innocent. Her eyes sparkled with happiness, 
her cheeks glowed with the color which her 


196 


THE STORY OF DELIGHT. 


rapid movement in the crisp air had given them, 
and her sunny hair framed her face beneath her 
little grey bonnet, as with a crown of gold. 
How could anybody — anybody, even evil, bring 
harm and distress to so bonny a creature, thought 
poor Dalton, who was herself pale as well as 
breathless. 

Then, meeting the questioning look in those 
bright eyes, her own expression hardened. What 
she had come to do she must do and quickly. 
Else would worse befall herself, and she shivered, 
slightly, remembering this. 

Delight was swift with sympathy : 

“ Why, Dalton, how cold thee seems ! and 
thee certainly looks ill. Has thee been in trouble 
since thee left my cousin’s ? ” 

“ I’m always in trouble. I’m used to that.” 

Delight’s surprise increased. Dalton had 
seemed the brightest and best of all the servants 
at Argyle Terrace. Always neat and capable, 
ready with aid and apparent sympathy for each 
member of the household, they had learned to de- 
pend upon her ; and although she had lived with 
them but a short time, they felt a real regret 
when their own poverty had compelled them to 
dismiss her. The alteration in her appearance 
now was painful to the warm-hearted Delight. 

“Of course, I’ll go home with thee if I can. 
If it isn’t so far that 1 will be after dark getting 


A CHANCE MEETING. 


197 


back to my cousin’s. I didn’t tell them where I 

was going because my errand was Well, I 

didn’t want them to be disappointed in case it 
failed. But it hasn’t. So now I’m impatient to 
be at home and explain. Why does thee wish me 
to go? Wouldn’t another time do as well? 
I’m sure Bertrand would love to go with me to 
visit his Dalton.” 

“ No. Another time will not answer. It must 
be to-night. It — it must be ! ” she finished, as if 
encouraging her own determination. 

“ Does thee not live at service now, then ? ” 

“ No. No. I haven’t taken another place 
yet. I suppose I will soon, though ; ” and she 
sighed, drearily. 

Then she roused herself to be more cheerful, 
and smiling, asked : 

“ Miss Delight, do you know a man named 
Enoch Legg ? ” 

“ Why, yes ! Surely. Does thee ? ” 

At that distance from him even the disagree- 
able old sailor seemed like a cherished friend to 
the absent girl, because he was of her beloved 
“ Seabury township.” 

“ No. But my father-in — I mean, there is a 
man at our house who does know him. He was 
a fellow-sailor, years ago. It is he who wants to 
see you, and right away. He can’t go to you, so 
you must needs go to him.” 


198 


THE STORY OF DELIGHT 


Something in Dalton’s tone jarred upon De- 
light’s pride. Even the most good natured of 
mortals may dislike to be commanded, and by an 
unknown, presumably obscure man. However, 
Delight tried to overlook the “ must ” and re- 
called the fact that any shipmate of old Enoch’s 
must himself be old and therefore worthy of her 
respect. 

“ Then will he talk to me of the sea ? Oh ! 
how I love it ! What would I not give just for a 
whiff of its salt breath this Christmas night ! ” 

They were now walking rapidly along the 
street but at the corner of an alley which cut 
the block in two Dalton turned and, as if to 
guide her, laid her hand upon the girl’s sleeve. 
This, too, was out of the common and Delight 
wondered that the woman should take such ex- 
ceeding care of her. She laughed and remarked : 

“ Thee needn’t try to hold me up. I’m sure- 
footed, even if it is slippery. They haven’t 
shovelled the sidewalk in here, have they? ” 

“ Humph. The folks who live in alleys don’t 
bother much to keep their paths clean. They’ve 
troubles of deeper sort than that. But, walk 
slower. There’s something I’d like to ask. 
How did the Hudsons pass this day ? Had 
they a good dinner? and who cooked it for 
them ? ” 

Indeed, Dalton was so eager in this inquiry 


A CRANCF MEETING. 


199 


that she stopped short and made Delight do so 
by the hold upon her arm. 

“ Dinner ! I should say so. I don’t suppose it 
is betraying secrets to tell thee who lived with 
them all about it ; ” so, with an eagerness which 
soon awoke an answering enthusiasm in her lis- 
tener, Delight explained how the mysterious 
basket had been left at the house in Harmony 
street ; how opportunely Maria had arrived ; and 
that although Mr. Hudson had been so suddenly 
stricken down this blow had not so greatly de- 
pressed any of the household. 

“ For thee must see, Dalton, that now he is at 
rest. He sleeps nearly all the time, and when 
he is awake his eyes have a contented look in 
them. He is so glad to have my Cousin Hannah 
up and caring for him, and every one of them 
has been so lovely ever since. If only we all 
had some way of earning money to keep things 
going I believe all would be as happy, or happier 
even, than in the old rich home.” 

Dalton listened with more and more interest. 
She twisted her clasped hands with a nervous 
gesture and a bright spot began to glow on her 
thin cheeks. When the recital was finished and 
the girl looked again questioningly down the 
alley, as if wondering how far Dalton’s home 
was, the woman exclaimed : 

“ To think that they should come to that ! To 


200 


THE STORY OF DELIGHT. 


be thankful for a basket of food, like any low- 
down family! What a change! But I’m glad 
that woman, Maria, had sense enough to keep 
the things, and I’m more glad than I can tell to 
think I sent them.’’ 

Delight halted, and again her pride was hum- 
bled. 

“ Thee — sent it ? Thee — their servant ! What 
would my Cousin Hannah say ? But she mustn’t 
know it. Ever. Please, Dalton ! Though it was 
beautiful of thee to do it, and most generous. 
Indeed, it was too much. But when I earn 
enough I will make it up to thee, indeed I will. 
It isn’t right that thee, who has to work for a liv- 
ing, should spend so much for other folks — just 
to eat up.” 

But Dalton’s face had again hardened and a 
bitter smile played about her lips. 

“ So, even you despise a ‘ servant,’ do you ? 
Well. All right. Tables turn, you know, and 
it’s not so odd that I should have my chance, 
too. However it’s all as it should be : but the 
next time I’m tempted to do a kind or a right 
thing to any of the ‘ upper-crust ’—just let me 
know it, Avill you ? ” 

Nor, for the short distance further that they 
walked, did she speak again. So Delight, also, 
plodded along in a miserable silence that she 
was ignorant how to break ; and she felt it a 


A CHANCE MEETING. 


201 


relief when her offended guide stopped before a 
small brick tenement and climbed a short flight 
of wooden stairs which ran across its face to a 
room half-way up. 

At the head of the stairs she knocked, in a 
peculiar manner, and waited. The knock was 
thrice repeated and after each time a similar 
pause was made. 

Finally, a low whistle sounded from within the 
house and to this Dalton answered by another. 
At this the door was cautiously opened by some 
person concealed behind it, and pushing Delight 
gently before her, yet with a firmness not easily 
withstood, the two entered the building and the 
door was closed. 


CIIAPTEK XX. 


DEMAND AND REFUSAL. 

The interior of the little house seemed close 
and stuffy after the frosty clearness of the outer 
air, but Delight was surprised by its evident com- 
fort. Indeed, the furnishings were of a sort 
oddly out of keeping with the cheap tenement, 
and the one window that opened into the alley 
was curtained by a tasteful hanging. Only the 
drapery looked heavy enough to serve the pur- 
pose of a screen and it certainly did exclude the 
daylight as well as prevent ventilation. The 
carpet was padded so that their footfalls made no 
echo and the visitor rapidly altered her opinion 
that Dalton could not afford to give away a 
dinner if she chose. 

“ Why, Dalton ! I did not dream thee were so 
well off ! I was afraid that thee had taken what 
thee needed for thyself. That was all. Of 
course, I understand it well now. It is like 
Maria ; only thee is so much younger than 
she that I wonder thee could save so much 
already.” 

^ What do you mean ? ” 

202 


DEMAND AND REFUSAL. 


203 


“ Maria had all the savings of all the years she 
had lived at service in her, or my, little trunk. I 
suppose thee has saved, too. I’m sorry I spoke 
hs I did. IIow nice it all is. Who lives here 
with thee? and where is the mate of old Enoch 
Lcgg? I must make my visit a short one — it 
seems to have grown darker suddenly. I must 
get home, thee knows.” 

“ Don’t worry, child. I will tell my — the 
man.” 

With that she left the room, passing into an- 
other at the back and closing the door behind 
her. To Delight the atmosphere became pres- 
ently unbearable and, to let out some of the heat 
as well as let in some of the daylight and fresh 
air, she crossed to again open the outer door. To 
her surprise she could not accomplish this and a 
Hash of fear turned her cold. 

“How silly I am! That’s only the habit of 
all the Chester folks, I think. I know Cousin 
Hannah will always keep her doors locked, and 
I suppose Dalton does, too. I wish she’d hurry 
back, though. It does seem queer in here and 
I’ll be glad to get away.” 

But she had waited for some moments before 
the woman reappeared ; and during the interval 
she had heard voices in that inner room which 
seemed to be discussing something very seriously. 
Men’s voices and Dalton’s shrill treble — that she 


204 


THE STORY OF DELIGHT. 


had been so quick to recognize upon the street — 
the latter evidently pleading for some favor 
which the others refused to grant. 

Delight tried not to listen, even when she 
caught the sound of , her own name ; and to keep 
herself from doing so she walked about the little 
apartment, examining with idle curiosity the ar- 
ticles heaped on its tables and mantel. To her 
astonishment, she saw upon the latter a silver 
frame for photographs ; such, in exact reproduc- 
tion, as she had seen upon Gwendolyn’s dressing 
table at Argyle Terrace. She stood with it in 
her hand as the door opened from the back room 
and her hostess reentered. 

There was no mistaking the angry flash of the 
woman’s eyes, as she noticed what the girl had 
picked up, and before the latter could speak she 
exclaimed : 

“Don’t you suppose there can be two such 
frames in Chester city ? Haven’t I a right to 
pretty things as well as other folks ? Aren’t we 
all of the same flesh and blood ? All human ? A 
body must look out for herself, in this world. If 
she doesn’t nobody else will.” 

This outburst so surprised Delight that she did 
not at once reply. When she did it was with a 
vague awakening memory that she had heard 
her young cousin lamenting the loss of just such 
^ trinket as Dalton possessed, and with a re- 


DEMAND AND REF U ISA L. 


205 


newed sensation of fear. But her words were 
quiet enough ; 

“I merely thought it odd that thee should 
have a frame like Gwendolyn’s. I am sure she 
would not begrudge it to thee. She was very 
fond of thee I think, for often, nowadays, she 
wishes thee was back to live with them.” 

Dalton’s own face softened again. She was 
fretted and anxious, and evidentlv under con- 
straint to do that which she did not approve. 

“Well. Conscience knows. Miss Koloson, I’d 
a deal rather live at respectable service than not. 
If so be I was free to follow my own will. I’m 
not, though. Nobody seems to be in this world.” 

“But where is Enoch Legg’s friend? If he 
wants to see me why doesn’t he come ? ” 

“You are to see him now. Come with me.” 

Delight followed the woman into that inner 
room, where she had overheard the voices, and 
found herself in the presence of two men. One 
was old and crouched in a chair before a grate 
fire, the other was about Dalton’s own age and 
had a face from which the girl instinctively re- 
coiled. It was brutal, despite its comeliness, and 
its expression terrified her so that she moved 
close to Dalton and unconsciously clasped the 
woman’s arm. 

The 3^ounger man laughed, observing this, but 
he said nothing, save to the old man beyond : 


206 


THE STORY OF DELIGHT. 


“Well, dad, here she is.” 

“ Ilmm. 1 hear her. Shut the door, can’t you ? 
It’s cold. It’s awful cold. My very bones are 
frozen.” 

The younger man put a fresh shovel of coals 
upon the fire and remarked : 

“ It’s keeping so still ails you. If you’d stir 
’round more you’d warm up.” 

All three of the household laughed at this, as 
if it had been an excellent joke ; but Delight saw 
nothing funny in it and felt her courage sink 
still further, for a change had come over Dalton’s 
manner, with her entrance into the presence of 
these others. Her face took on an expression al- 
most as hard and evil as that of the man she 
called “ Fete,” and she ignored the half -pleading 
touch upon her sleeve. But she placed a chair 
for the visitor before the grate, and somewhat 
too near the hideous old man for Delight’s en- 
joyment. 

As she sat down she pushed the chair away 
and the action was speedily commented upon : 

“ Oh ! you needn’t be afraid, sissy. I’m an old 
friend of yours. Leastwise, of your folks. I 
knew your father well.” 

“ Thee knew my father ! ” cried the girl, for- 
getting everything else. “ When did thee know 
him and where ? Dalton only told me that thee 
knew Enoch Legg.” 


DEMAND AND REFUSAL. 


207 


The old sailor scowled. “Aye, aye. I know 
him, too. To my own damage. Time that 
scoundrel sailed into his last port years ago. 
The world won’t be the worse off when Enoch 
Legg’s out of it.” 

“ lie is almost out of it now, I fear. He is 
bed-ridden, I suppose thee knows.” 

“11mm. Yes. I’ve seen him. Since you have, 
too.” 

“ Since I have ? Then thee must have been to 
Seabury township very lately.” 

“ I saw him last Wednesday. And that gren- 
adier wife of his, too. She asked after you and 
sent the good word. She’s a tartar, she is.” 

“ She’s one of the grandest women ever lived,” 
said Delight warmly, and in defending her friend 
she quite forgot her own fear. 

This was exactly what the speaker intended. 
He had, truly, but recently returned from a fruit- 
less visit to Captain Harriet’s home ; and he had 
used her name for purposes of his own. 

“ Tell me all about her, please,” demanded 
Delight, eagerly. “How did she look? Was 
she well ? Did thee see anybody else there ? ” 

“ I saw nobody else, and she looked well, as 
much like a weather-beaten old ‘salt,’ as a 
woman. She’s tall as a mainmast, near like; 
and as straight. She’s as much man as woman, 
struck me; and powerful short spoke. What 


208 


THE STORY OF DELIGHT. 


she said, though, was worth listening to. It was 
a message to you.” 

“ A message to me? What is it ?” 

The man assumed an air of carelessness ; af- 
fecting but dimly to recall the matter, and finally 
exclaiming : 

“ Aye, I recollect. I wanted to get it all right. 
It was about some paper or other ’t old Enoch 
had given you. Or parchment, near like. Not 
much account, I reckon, but he’s been sorry he 
parted with it and asked me — as a favor — being’s 
I was likely to touch land there soon again to 
fetch it back to him. You was to give it to me 
and I’d take care of it till such time as I see 
him.” 

Unfortunately for himself, as he finished, the 
speaker turned toward the younger man and 
winked : at which the other burst into a guffaw, 
exclaiming : 

“ Hi, dad ! you’ll do ! Good enough, good 
enough.” 

The wink and the explanation were both ob- 
served by Delight, and that intuition which 
serves many as an additional sense warned her 
that here was treachery of some sort. Her an- 
swer was simple : 

“ I haven’t the paper with me.” 

“ Oh ! no. I didn’t reckon you had. But 
Sally here, my daughter-in-law, will go with you 


DEMAND AND REFUSAL. 


209 


and fetch it back. You know her. You can 
trust her, can’t you ? ” 

“ I — I thought I could.” 

There was utter silence after she had said this. 
Then the woman broke in, sharply : 

“ Can’t you trust me now ? ” 

“ I — don’t — know. It seems ” 

“How? What seems?” demanded the 
younger man, fixing his keen eyes upon Delight’s 
face. 

“ As if there were something about this that I 
do not understand. Even if I had the paper I 
would not like to give it up. It was an impor- 
tant one, I think. I was to take the greatest 
care of it.” 

“ Pooh ! It didn’t amount to anything. One 
of Enoch’s cranky notions. ISTothing else. Even 
his wife said that.” 

“ Did Captain Harriet say that it was of no 
value ? ” 

The old sailor hesitated. Then answered 
boldly: “Yes. She did. She was glad to be 
rid of it.” 

“ Then why does she want it back ? ” 

“ Say ! You’re not so simple as you look. 
Let’s quit fooling and get down to business. It’s 
getting late and I want that paper to-night. 
Dad may be starting for Enoch Legg’s to-morrow. 
Sally can see you home and fetch it ; or I .will.” 


210 


THE STORY OF DELIGHT. 


Delight waited till the man called “ Pete ” had 
finished, then quietly rose. 

“ I am sorry to seem disobliging and I came 
here to learn something of old 8eabury friends. 
I must go now and I should be glad to have 
Dalton’s company — if she is the ‘ Sally ’ thee 
means — but I shall not give her the paper. I 
must keep that till I understand more about it.” 

“ Pete ” rose, also. His manner had now be- 
come as quiet as her own but with a calmness 
which boded evil to herself. 

“ Look here, young woman. You may not 
know Avhere you are, but I can tell you. You 
are in the power of two men who stick at noth- 
ing which hinders their purpose. You have a 
paper in your possession which must come into 
ours. Until you promise to give it to me, or my 
wife here, you cannot leave this house. That’s 
as sure as you live and you had better believe 
it.” 

He felt certain that he had taken the shortest 
course to bring her to terms but he did not know 
the girl with whom he had to deal. She forgot 
her fear in her indignation and followed his de- 
parture from the scene with a glance of contempt. 

Then she heard Dalton’s voice, cajoling and 
warning : 

“ Don’t anger him, miss. Far better not. Say 
yes, dearie, and I’ll take you straight home. I 


DEMAND AND REFUSAL. 


211 


can trust you if you can’t trust me. Just pass 
your word, for I’ve heard that a Quaker never 
lies.” 

‘‘ I can’t say yes, but I’m going home at once.” 

Yet when she tried the doors, again and again, 
and found herself a prisoner her heart sank 
within her. 


CHAPTER XXI. 


PEACH ALLEY. 

“ Peach alley, madam,” said the driver of a 
hansom, addressing the lady within the cab. 

“Very well. Xumber 927 is the house I want. 
Is that far down the alley ? ” 

“ A matter of some blocks. IPs a rough place.” 
“ Can’t you drive over it ? ” 

“Yes, madam. It’s not the cobble stones I 
was meaning, though they’re like to shake you 
up a goodish bit. It’s a neighborhood the police 
don’t like. I know that, ’cause my own brother’s 

on the force. I thought maybe ” 

The lady smiled. 

“Thank you for your caution, Mr. Waters. 
But I am not afraid. The woman I am after has 
such high recommendations that wherever she 
lives must be safe enough. Besides, I’m used to 
visiting much poorer districts than this.” 

Mrs. Lester smiled cordially upon her tempo- 
rary coachman, and he again gathered up his reins 
to proceed down the alley. He always acted as 
driver for the lady, during her frequent visits to 
Chester, and as he had married an old nurse 


PEACH ALLEY. 


213 


once attached to her mother’s household he had 
the privilege of freer speech than a stranger. He 
knew the city well and, despite its fairly decent 
appearance, knew also, as he had stated, that this 
locality was obnoxious to the police. Many of- 
fenders against law had been traced to the 
“ Peaches,” though but few arrests had been ac- 
complished there. The tenants of the low row 
of houses seemed banded together to protect each 
other and elude detection. 

However, Mr. Waters had said his say and 
now returned to his immediate duty of safely 
driving his good horse down an ill-paved road ; 
and after a shaky passage Mrs. Lester’s eyes 
rested upon the desired number — 927. 

“ You ring for me, Mr. Waters, please. If the 
woman is at home I will get out and go in.” 

“ Dalton, is it, madam ? ” 

“ Yes. Ann, or Sally, Dalton. Advertised in 
this morning’s Herald.'’- 

Dalton was at home. Yes, it was she who had 
advertised. Would the lady come in? It was 
cold talking outside. 

Mrs. Lester alighted and entered the small 
house which was so much more shabby without 
than within. It was unusual to find so much 
comfort, almost elegance, in the home of a per- 
son applying for the position that Dalton had, 
and the visitor scrutinized her rather closely. 


214 


THE STORY OF DELIGHT, 


Dalton’s speech and behavior were, however, 
perfectly correct and in keeping with her lot in 
life, and Mrs. Lester reproached herself for so in- 
stant dislike to her. But the dislike was real, 
and she almost regretted that there was no rea- 
sonable excuse for not engaging the woman’s 
services. 

“ You say that you have served in the capacity 
of lady’s maid ? ” 

“Yes, madam. Though at the last place I 
acted as a sort of housekeeper.” 

“ Where was that place? I am engaging you 
for my sister, who is an invalid, and I must be 
extra careful to secure somebody whom she can 
thoroughly trust. I might see your late mis- 
tress ” 

Dalton bridled. “ I’m sure your sister can 
trust me. I’ve never lived in a j)lace where I 
have not given perfect satisfaction.” 

“ Ilmm. Where did you say you lived last? ” 

Dalton hesitated, then replied, evasively: 

“ I lived on Argyle Terrace. I was there until 
the family broke up and removed to another 
neighborhood. You see, ma’am, I have an old 
father depending on me and I must live near 
enough to him to run home now and again of a 
night to make him comfortable. I’m sure your 
sister wouldn’t be minding that, would she ? Be- 
cause, if she would, there’s another ” 


PEACH ALLEY. 


215 


Mrs. Lester reflected that “ references ” were 
not often more satisfactory than troublesome, 
and that a good servant was difficult to find. 
She really had no reason for her dislike of this 
one before her and a maid her sister did require, 
and at once. So she closed with this opportu- 
nity, and on satisfactory terms to both sides. 
Or, apparently such. 

“ When will you come ? ” 

Again Dalton hesitated and, turning, cast a 
suspicious glance over the front of the house. 
Then she replied : 

“I can’t come before to-morrow morning. 
Maybe not so soon ” 

“ But I wanted you at once.” 

I couldn’t come before then, ma’am. But at 
seven o’clock I will be there. What is the num- 
ber, please?” 

Mrs. Lester gave it and left the house. As she 
did so she stepped into a throng of little children, 
unkempt and forlorn, who were quarrelling over 
some trifling possession and Avho paid little heed 
to the stranger, in their eagerness about their 
own affairs. 

Now little children, of whatever age and con- 
dition, were precious to the soul of gentle Mrs. 
Lester, whose name was a household word in 
more than one big city. It was impossible for 
her to pass these without a cheery bit of talk, 


216 


THE STORY OF DELIGHT. 


question and answer, nor was lier good heart 
ever more touched than by a certain air of neg- 
lect which hung over the entire group. 

“Ma’am? Well, we mostly takes care of our- 
selves, we do. Folks ? Some of us has, some 
hasn’t. No. Never go to school. Ain’t no kin- 
dergarten, as I knows of. Couldn’t go if there 
was.” 

“ Why not ? This isn’t such a poor place. I’ve 
seen much worse. Surely your people would let 
you go if you wished.” 

“No. Never go out the alley. None of us. 
’Tain’t safe.” 

“Not safe? Why?” 

A shrill voice from further down the row 
interrupted whatever answer might have been 
given. 

“ Jim ! Jimmy Smith ! you come a-here. Keep 
your mouth shut, I tell you ! ” 

Not only “ Jimmy Smith ” but the whole group 
vanished. The summons had evidently frightened 
the little ones ; and, with a renewed compassion 
for their ignorance and squalor, Mrs. Lester re- 
entered her cab. But she meant to return at no 
distant day and see if something could not be 
done to brighten the lives of these little creatures. 

Meanwhile, Mr. Waters, from his elevated seat 
at the back of his vehicle, had been curiously 
scanning the houses in Peach alle}^ When his 


PEACH ALLEY. 


217 


glance came back and rested upon the upper part 
of No. 927 he saw, or fancied that he did, a white 
finger push through the slats of a blind. The 
hand to which the finger belonged was evidently 
trying to force the shutter open ; but it failed in 
this attempt and the finger disappeared. 

In another locality, Mr. Waters would have 
paid no attention to this trifling incident ; but he 
had something of a detective’s nature and hoped 
some day to be, like his brother, employed upon 
“ the force.” 

So while he waited for his “fare” to con- 
clude her business within the house he kept a 
watchful eye upon that faded green blind. Nor 
was his labor without reward ; for, after a brief 
delay, a tiny white object was pushed downward 
through the slats and fell to the ground. 

It had scarcely touched it before Mr. Waters 
had stepped down and secured it. But, still with 
that detective instinct upon him, he slipped it into 
his pocket very quietly and resumed his attitude 
of waiting. 

He did not notice the children as they drew 
near, nor when Mrs. Lester reappeared did he 
mention what had occurred ; but as he drove out 
of the alley he cast one backward glance toward 
the shuttered window. There was nothing 
altered; yet as the wheels rolled forward he 
distinctly heard a girlish voice crying shrilly : 


218 


THE STORY OF DELIGHT. 


“ Help ! Somebody let me out ! ” 

Mrs. Lester also heard the cry : 

“What was that, Mr. Waters? Did the 
Avoman call after me ? ” 

“Not the woman, I think, ma’am. Sounded 
like a body in trouble. I’ve heard there’s a deal 
of dark doings in Peach alley.” 

“ Somebody in trouble ? Do you suppose we 
could help her if we turned back ? ” 

“ No, ma’am, I’m sure we couldn’t. Not as we 
are. No authority, ma’am.” 

“Well, then, drive on. Let’s get aAvay from 
here. I don’t like the place and your talk has 
made me positively fidgety, which is a new thing 
for me.” 

With that he ansAvered “All right, ma’am,” 
touched his good horse to as fast a speed as it 
could make over so rough a pavement, and heard, 
as they rolled onAvard, once again that appeal 
for : “ Help ! I want to get out ! ” 

But neither he nor his fare made further com- 
ment on the matter Avhich he, at least, did not 
forget. 


CHAPTER XXIL 


A VISITOR TO HARMONY STREET. 

“ AVell ? ” demanded Mrs. Vanderhagen, with 
some impatience, as the footman returned from 
making inquiries at the Hudsons’ home. “ What 
did the woman say ? ” 

“ That the young lady was not in, ma’am.” 

“Wasn’t it more than that? I thought she 
looked ver}^ much disturbed.” 

“ She said, ma’am, that ‘ only the Lord knows 
where she is,’ ma’am.” 

“ Open the door. I will get out.” 

The man obeyed and the lady stepped to the 
pavement, then walked swiftly to the low stoop 
of the house. She could not help comparing 
this, in her memory, with the pretentious mansion 
on Argyle Terrace, and she pitied the inmates 
for the misfortunes they had suffered. But even 
before she could again ring the bell a curious 
thumping sound echoed along the passage, and 
the same grey-haired person who had responded 
to the man’s summons appeared before her. 

“ Oh ! ma’am, 3^ou’re the same lady who 
brought my girl to the hospital. Have you seen 
her now ? Do you know where she is ? ” 


220 


THE STORY OF DELIGHT. 


‘‘ And you are, indeed, Maria. I am glad to 
see you again, though sorry to say ‘ no ’ to your 
question. Delight was at my house on Christ- 
mas day just before nightfall. She left me in 
plenty of time to reach here before dark, and I 
gave her plain directions. Indeed, I wrote them 
on my visiting card, so that she should make no 
mistake. She was to have come back to me at 
nine o’clock the next morning ; and as she did 
not come then, nor since, I drove out to see why 
she did not. What is this the footman tells me ? 
lias something happened to her ? ” 

Even as she put the question Mrs. Yanderhagen 
was surprised by the depth of her own anxiety. 

‘‘ Come in, ma’am. Do come in. Let’s talk it 
over and see what it means — if we can. But I 

fear Oh ! what do I not fear ! ” 

The visitor followed her guide as far as the 
sitting-room, where Gladys was making inef- 
fectual gestures to the careless Maria to : “ Take 
her into the front drawing-room ” ; then finding 
herself obliged to come forward and receive this 
caller with as good a grace as she could. 

“ My good Maria, why are you doing that ? ” 
asked Mrs. Yanderhagen, quite ignoring Gladys’ 
perturbed manner, and with a half-smile at the 
old s,ervant’s unique method of progress. 

“ Why, you see, ma’am, that I can’t manage the 
crutches at all. And if I go creeping all around 


A VISITOR TO HARMONY STREET. 


221 


that takes all my hands. I mean Well, 

by strapping my lame leg in a chair and pushing 
it along so, using my sound leg, I’m free with 
both hands and find it quite convenient. I creep 
up the stairs, well enough, and I generally get 
one of them to take the chair up for me. If I 
can’t get them, I manage. ‘ Needs must is a good 
driver,’ ma’am. But — Delight ! Where can she 
be ? What can have happened to her ? ” 

With a sigh Maria deftly whirled her chair- 
crutch about and restored it to its original pur- 
pose of a seat and, though she even was able to 
smile at the guest’s astonishment over this feat, 
the lines of her face showed keenest anxiety. So 
they plunged at once into a discussion of Delight’s 
possible whereabouts ; and one after another of 
the household joined them, till, in absorption in 
their mutual trouble, the Hudsons forgot their 
shame in their altered circumstances and appeared 
naturally, therefore at their best. Indeed, by 
that one brief call, Mrs. Yanderhagen had come 
nearer to their real hearts than she could ever 
have done during many “society” visits. 

In Delight both sides found a mutual ground 
of interest ; and, now that she was gone, both 
found how necessary to their happiness she had 
become. 

“ Well, the best thing is to publish her disap- 
pearance in the evening papers, if there is still 


222 


THE STORY OF DELIGHT. 


time to get the item in,” said the lady, glancing 
toward George, as if this were his affair ; and with 
an intuition that ev^en a small sum might be want- 
ing she quietly handed him a bill. 

“ Please have the advertisement inserted for 
me. Go first to the News^ since that has the 
largest circulation, then the other papers in suc- 
cession, and — lose no time. I would send you in 
the carriage but I will use that in another way 
for the same purpose.” 

George hesitated slightly and was reluctant to 
accept the proffered bill; but the lady’s next 
words banished all this feeling as well as roused 
an equal amazement. 

“ You are surely doing it for me, and my hus- 
band ; for it is my hope, my warmest desire, 
when our missing girl is found — to adopt her as 
my own daughter. Indeed I made her a proposal 
to that effect, on Christmas, when she came to 
see me.” 

George stared, seized his hat, bowed politely 
to this new and powerful friend of the once de- 
spised “ country cousin,” and hurried away. 

Mrs. Hudson was the first to find her voice, 
for she had left her husband for a bit that she 
might meet their visitor. 

“You want to adopt — adopt — my Cousin De- 
light ? ” 

“ I most certainly do. Though, in justice to 


A VISITOR TO HARMONY STREET. 


223 


her, I must add that she is not half as anxious to 
be adopted. AVait. I will tell you the whole 
matter, though she might not quite like to have 
me. But since you are the real stumbling stones 
in the way of my success ” — she smiled pleasantly 
upon the astonished matron — “ I will explain. 
The child’s visit to me was made in order to se- 
cure some sort of work by which she could earn 
money to help you. She could not desert you 
while you were in trouble. Of course, what she 
could earn, really earn, at any sort of labor she 
could do would not go far toward the support of 
a family. ‘ Still it would help’ was her argument, 
and her endeavor is quite as noble as if her re- 
wards would be much larger.” 

Mrs. Vanderhagen was not unkind, but she 
could not refrain from firing this shot into the 
enemy’s camp, so to speak ; and she was deter- 
mined they should fully realize something of the 
unselfishness and devotion to duty which ani- 
mated the girl they had been so unwilling to re- 
ceive. 

“ She wanted — to earn money — for us ! ” ex- 
claimed Mrs. Hudson, after a telling pause. 

“ Yes. And I had engaged her to begin her 
labors the next morning.” 

“ At what ? ” 

“ Darning fine laces, first. At what might 
come up, afterward ; always providing she still 


224 


THE STORY OF DELIGHT. 


declined to accept the olfer we had made her. I 
need scarcely add that this offer will remain open 
indefinitely ; so that when she is found — as she 
imost he — she will have two homes awaiting her 
presence, her sunshiny presence, in them.” 

Then the lady rose, and Maria who had been 
sitting, silent for the most part, rose also. But 
so suddenly and with such entire forgetfulness of 
her own lameness that she tottered, struggled, 
and finally collapsed in an ignominious heap at 
the visitor’s feet. 

“ ‘ Pride must have a fall,’ but I allow I didn’t 
reckon it meant that kind of pride. For I am 
right set up, ma’am, to know my little Delight — 
God bless her ! — has been able of her own sweet 
self to make such a friend as you are ! But she’s 
worthy. She’s worthy, if ever a body was in 
this world. She’s Koloson from the head to the 
foot of her — there’s no better anywhere. Now — 
will somebody help me up ? ” 

The laughter which her accident provoked 
came welcomely. In it all forgot the constraint 
which had followed Mrs. Vanderhagen’s state- 
ment concerning her wishes in regard to Delight ; 
and when Maria was once more securely strapped 
to her chair, or her bent knee so strapped — 
the lady took her departure. 

“ I will drive down town at once and consult 
my husband. If young Mr. Hudson gets the ad- 


A VISITOR TO HARMONY STREET. 


225 


vertisements out to-night, and we get the police 
notified, our dear child should be back among us 
before many hours. If she has met somebody 
she knew, and is forgetting that we would be 
anxious, the notices will remind her, or her 

friends, and she will return. If not Well, it 

isn’t such a very big city. The police will get 
upon some track of her, I am positive. By the 
way, whoever hears of her first, must let the 
others know. If I do, I will send you a message 
immediately ; if you do, please notify me.” 

Then she went; and, despite the sorrowful 
mystery that engrossed them all, her manner 
had been so cor’dial, she had so thoroughly iden- 
tified herself with their interest in Delight, that 
she left behind her such a sentiment of cheerful- 
ness and good feeling that each was loud in her 
praises. 

“ That’s what I call a real gentlewoman,” said 
Gwendolyn, earnestly. “ Simple, unaffected, go- 
ing straight to the root of the matter ; and how 
plainly she was dressed ! I will make her my 
model, see if I don’t.” 

“ Yes, she was plainly enough dressed ; but 
that unadorned costume was the perfection of fit 
and quality, and came, I do not doubt, from the 
most fashionable tailor in the country,” remarked 
her mother. 

“Well, she wasn’t ‘sot up,’ as Maria says, even 


226 


THE STORY OF DELIGHT. 


if it did. She wore it as if it were made for her, 
not she for it ; which was the way I used to fee], 
when I first put on some of my fancy clothes. 
Oh ! it’s nice to be rich, isn’t it ! ” sighed the girl 
Gladys. 

“Yes. But I’m learning that there is some- 
thing better than riches ; and that’s — unselfish- 
ness,” answered Gwendolyn, softly, as she went 
upstairs to her father’s sick room. 


CHAPTER XXIIL 


BEGINNING THE SEARCH. 

George Hudson lost no time in reaching the 
office of the Evening News^ but the clerk assured 
him that the paper had already been “made up,” 
and that it was quite too late to insert any ad- 
vertisement that night, even one of so urgent a 
nature as this. 

“ However, we can put it in the morning edi- 
tion and you will really lose but a few hours.” 

“ Yet those few hours mean a great deal of 
anxiety to some, and possible suffering to the 
missing girl.” 

“I’m sorry, I’m sure,” remarked the other, 
politely. 

“ Besides, Mrs. Yanderhagen will be so dis- 
appointed. She was almost positive that you 
would stretch a point to oblige her. You see, 

this girl Well, the lady wished to adopt 

her, and — ” but just there George reflected that 
he might be betraying too much of private affairs. 

His discretion came too late. There is nobody 
so keen for an “ item ” as a newspaper man and 
the clerk scented a bit of really fresh material. 

227 


228 


THE STORY OF DELIGHT. 


“ Yanclerhagen? Yanderhagen, did you say? 
Mr. Blasius Yanderhagen, of ours ?” 

“ He may be of yours, or anybody’s, for aught 
I know,” answered George, hastily. “ At any 
rate I’m going to try the Telegyxim and see what 
they’ll do about it.” 

lie turned to leave, but the employee behind 
the desk waved his hand. 

“ Hold on ! I’ll take the blank you’ve made 
out and consult.” 

“ I can’t waste time.” 

You will save it, perhaps,” returned the other. 
“ I’ll be back immediately.” 

He was. This time his manner was quite as 
eager for the “ Ad ” as George’s had been to be- 
stow it. A reporter accompanied the receiving 
clerk, and George’s business was soon arranged. 

“You may not know, young man, but this 
Mr. Yanderhagen holds a controlling interest in 
the Ne\os Comjjany. I think you will be satisfied 
with the notice we give you. More than that, 
we shall put a ‘ special ’ on the case and promise 
to unravel the mystery very speedily. The Tele- 
grairiy you say? Well, that’s needless, If 

I were you I’d just confine the matter to our 
paper and ” 

But the anxious lad was already disappearing 
into the street, and, regardless of the reporter’s 
advice, was almost running to the office of an- 


BEGINNING THE SEARCH. 


220 


other evening pa})er. So that, within a very 
brief time, both had inserted an inquiry concern- 
ing Delight ; while one of them described tlie 
matter under flaring headlines and with all the 
sensational eclat possible. 

One copy found its way into the pretty house 
where, having finished dinner, Mrs. Lester sat 
down in her sister’s room to read to that invalid 
all the local happenings of the day. 

“ I do enjoy handling a freshly printed news- 
paper. I like the odor of the new ink on the 
damp sheets,” remarked the reader, impulsively, 
and holding her N'ews so close to her nose that 
she smutted it with the black imprint. 

Which caused her sister to laugh, and even 
provoked a smile from that scrupulously exact 
person, in cap and apron, who was none other 
than the new maid and our old acquaintance, 
Dalton. 

Almost at the first glance Mrs. Lester’s eye 
rested upon the startling headlines : 

“Mysterious Disappearance of a Young 
AND Beautiful Girl — Was Soon to be 
Legally Adopted by Our Honored Citi- 
zens; THE Vanderhagens — Miss Delight 
Koloson Pays a Visit to Her Future 
Mother and After Leaving Her House 
is Seen More. The Hews Already 
Has Its Scouts Upon the Trail and 
Promises Soon to Solve the Problem.” 


230 


THE STORY OF DELIGHT. 


Mrs. Lester read these to herself, springing up 
and holding the paper at arm’s length, as if by 
so doing she could disprove the startling story. 

She finished her silent perusal with a little 
cry, and exclaimed : 

“Don’t you remember, Helena, that sweet 
faced little Friend who travelled with me once, 
last autumn ? She was coming here to find un- 
known relatives and I parted with her at the 
Junction. Ever since I came I’ve been thinking 
I would hunt her up and renew acquaintance but 
have always delayed. Mell — listen ! ” and she 
read raq)idly, yet with telling effect, the rather 
high-colored newspaper narrative which had 
been manufactured from the very meagre facts 
that George had communicated. 

When she had gone through the article she 
looked up and her gaze happened to rest upon 
Dalton, who had })aused in the preparation of 
her mistress’ bed for the night and now stood 
leaning against the head-board, as if suddenly 
stricken by faintness. 

“ Why, Dalton ! What’s the matter ? Are 
you ill?” 

“No. No, ma’am, thank you. It’s a bit of a 
headache, ma’am. I’m all right directly, ma’am.” 

“ What a pity ! Are you subject to such at- 
tacks, Dalton ? ” asked Mrs. Lester, who felt the 
responsibility of engaging the woman and of 


BEGINNING THE SEARCH. 


231 


leaving her frail sister in incompetent hands, 
when her own visit should have expired. 

“ No, ma’am. Not at all subject, ma’am. This 
is the first turn I ever took like it. I shan’t be 
taken again, ma’am.” 

There was a trace of acerbity in the answer, 
and Mrs. Lester forbore to press the subject; 
but she resolved to keep a watchful eye upon the 
maid and to replace her by another, if need be, 
before she herself left Chester. 

Then she discussed the news concerning De- 
light with profound interest and felt a personal 
desire to aid in tracing the lost one. 

“ The trouble is that she is such an innocent, 
guileless girl, that she would walk unsuspectingly 
into any trap laid for her. How she can have an 
enemy I fail to understand. It seemed to me 
that anybody must love her who saw her.” 

Meanwhile, Dalton worked about mechanically. 
That she was still nervous and shaken her rather 
uncertain movements and abstracted gaze testi- 
fied ; but she fulfilled all that was required of 
her, even undressing her mistress and assisting 
her to bed at the early hour which her delicacy 
rendered necessary. 

But when all was done that must be she pre- 
ferred her request to “go home for a bit, ma’am, 
if you can spare me.” 

“ Why, but Dalton, you did not ask to go out 


232 


THE STORY OF DELIGHT. 


every night; and yet you have been since you 
came.” 

No, ma’am, I’m not so intending, ma’am. But 
I told Mrs. Lester about my old father and the 
care I must take of him. After a little that will 
be all over, most like.” 

“ What do you mean ? That he will get well 
or — or die ? ” 

“ He may — may have to go away, ma’am,” re- 
plied the maid, slowly. “ Leastwise, if you please, 
ma’am, I’d like to get off at once, ma’am. I’ll be 
back in the morning, early, if I can’t get here 
to-night ” 

“ But, Dalton, this is an imposition ! I engaged 
you to attend my sister constantly, save when 
some of us preferred to relieve you. I promised 
you, for her, much higher wages than ordinary, 
and you promised, in return, to do your best.” 

“ I knoAV, ma’am, and I’m sorry. Truly I am. 
She’s a pleasant lady and I’m glad to have the 
place. But even them that live at service have 
their relations to look out for, same’s yourself.” 

Mrs. Lester was obliged to smile, though she 
was indignant at the frequent opportunities the 
new servant found for apparently shirking her 
duties. 

“ And, ma’am, can you say I don’t suit you ? 
Because if you’re not pleased, it’s not long I’d be 
out of a situation^ Ihn proud to say. Of all I’ve 


BEGINNING THE SEARCH. 


233 


lived with not a lady has ever found fault with 
my work, ma’am.” 

This was probably true. Certainly, Dalton 
was a model maid and Mrs. Lester reluctantly 
agreed : 

“Very well. You may go but I wish you to 
come back to-night, if possible. I want you to 
learn exactly all Mrs. Percival’s ways and re- 
quirements, while I am here.” 

Then she resumed her paper and reread the 
article about Delight ; while Dalton, far more 
anxious than she dared betray, slipped out of the 
house and hurried away. 

As she left it by the servants’ entrance she 
nearly ran into a man who stood beside the 
steps, about to ascend them and ring for admis- 
sion. He eyed her keenly, though she paid no 
attention to him, and he even followed her for a 
short distance to convince himself that he was 
not mistaken in her identity. His impulse was 
to lay a restraining hand upon her shoulder, then 
he reflected that he was not yet “ upon the force ” 
and refrained his ambition. 

So he retraced his footsteps to the door, mov- 
ing with a buoyant tread as if already he heard 
tlie commendations of the ‘‘ chief ” for an espe- 
cially brilliant piece of work ; and he rang the 
bell with such eagerness that the girl who an- 
swered it inquired, sharply : 


234 


THE STORY OF DELIGHT. 


“ Who’s there ? Pulling the handle off in such 
a hurry ? ” 

“It’s me. Mr. Waters, please. And will you 
say to the lady, Mrs. Lester, that I’m below and 
most anxious to speak with her ? ” 

“ Oh ! it’s you, is it ? I thought it was that 
new woman, Dalton, who’s always going out and 
coming in and so top-lofty by reason of her being 
a lady’s maid that she can’t consort with us of 
the kitchen and laundry. Come in, I’m sure, 
Mr. Waters, and I’ll give your message imme- 
diate.” 

“ But I’ll just take a seat in the hall and wait 
for her. Be kind enough to say my message is 
private, please, and likely she’ll understand.” 

Mrs. Lester did not “ understand ” though she 
responded readily enough to the summons of her 
old acquaintance, asking pleasantly : 

“Well, Mr. Waters, what has brought you 
here to-night? No trouble has come to your 
family, I hope.” 

“ No, ma’am. Thank the Lord, we’re all well 
and hearty. But — are we quite alone, ma’am ? ” 
assuming an air of great secrecy. 

“ Quite,” answered the lady, inwardly amused ; 
for the cabman’s detective aspirations were well 
known to the household. 

With a little needless flourish Mr. Waters ex- 
tracted froip an inner pocket a rather soiled bit 


BEGINNING THE SEARCH. 


235 


of pasteboard, originally a fashionable visiting 
card. By the gaslight Mrs. Lester deciph- 
ered, underneath a few pencil scrawls, the en- 
graved superscription: “Mrs. Blasius Yander- 
hagen.” 

“ Mrs. Yanderhagen’s card ! In this condition ? 
AVhat about it, Mr. Waters?” 

“ There’s other writing on it, ma’am.” 

“Yes. It is covered. But the marks are so 
faint I can’t make them out.” 

“ I can, ma’am, if you please,” remarked the 
cabman earnestly. “ Fact, I’ve studied them till 
I know ’em by heart. This is what it says : 

“ ‘ Please, good anybody who gets this, come 
and let me out. I’m locked up because I won’t 
give up the paper. Come quick. I’m getting 
afraid of the men.’ ” 

“ I do not understand. Is there no name 
signed? Surely, Mrs. Yanderhagen had nothing 
to do with any such message for I saw her out 
driving this very afternoon. Tell me what you 
think or know about this and what you want. 
Mrs. Percival is alone, for her maid has gone out. 
Mr. Percival out of town, as you know — I don’t 
like to leave her.” 

By experience, Mrs. Lester knew that good 
Waters was long winded. “ He’s over fond of a 
deal of words,” his wife declared ; so she meant 
to hurry his speech, if she could. 


236 


THE STORY OF DELIGHT. 


To her surprise she succeeded. Pulling a 
News from his hat he laid the card upon it. 

“Two and two makes four, ma’am,” he re- 
marked sententiously. 

“ Of course. Well ? ” 

“ That card and that paper belongs together, 
ma’am. Else I’m mistook.” 

She smiled. It seemed to her a very probable 
thing that this astute fellow should be mistaken, 
and she was yet wholly in the dark as to his 
meaning. 

“ Please explain,” she requested as patiently as 
she could. 

“ You said the woman, Dalton, had gone out. 
I know that. I saw her go.” 

“Easily enough. Anybody might. She’s al- 
ways out, it seems to me.” 

“ You know where we found her.” 

“ Of course. Peach alley.” 

He lifted the card from the folded paper and 
held it significantly between his thumb and fore- 
finger. He fancied he had never known any- 
body so slow of comprehension as this lady and 
she, on her part, considered that she had never 
known a person to be so dully, stupidly mys- 
terious as he. 

When no glimmer of suspicion appeared in her 
face, he observed : 


BEGINNING THE SEARCH. 


237 


“ That card came from there. From the house 
of the woman, Dalton.” 

“ Indeed ? Ilow did you get it ? What about 
it?” 

“ This about it ; ” and he narrated all that had 
occurred during his wait in the alley while she 
had been within doors, engaging Dalton. The 
scribbled card was the tiny white object that had 
been slipped between the slats of the blind. The 
blind, or shutter, was, like all others in the row, 
made of iron and painted a dull green. Land- 
lords had found that wooden blinds were too 
easily destroyed to be of any use in tlje tenements, 
and for similar purposes of economy the slats had 
been fixed at a certain angle and so fastened. 
This suited the tenants well enough, being prac- 
tically fireproof and enabling them to see out 
into the alley without themselves being seen. 
Yet it was this that had made the opening of the 
slats impossible to the girl who had slipped the 
card through them. 

“But the card is unsigned. That penciling 
was never done by Mrs. Vanderhagen. Explain 
— at once, please, what you do mean.” 

Mr. Waters held up the newspaper so that the 
headlines announcing Delight’s disappearance 
stared boldly forth. Instant comprehension now 
flashed into Mrs. Lester’s mind. 

“ You mean that it is this girl — this Delight — 


238 


THE STORY OF DELIGHT, 


who is shut up in Dalton’s home, who dropped 
you the card ? ” 

“Yes, ma’am. That’s my opinion.” 

“ But why ? If it is she, and she wrote that 
much, why not sign it ? ” 

“ Maybe she was interrupted. Maybe she for- 
got. Anywise, I think it is she.” 

“ Then hurry and rescue her ! I’ll go with 
you ! I’ll tell Helena, and one of the other 
maids must stay with her.” 

“ It mightn’t be an over safe place at night, 
ma’am.” 

“ If that dear child’s shut up there — safe for 
me as for her. Far safer. But — why should it 
be she ? It’s too much like melodrama, here in 
these days.” 

“ The paper is full of stranger things than 
that, ma’am ; and I came to ask advice. My 
brother’s oif duty to-night and this might be a 
chance for him to get a ‘ beat ’ on the others. If 
I had a hand in it, it might give me a show to 
get appointed. But I was going to say : Would 
I better go to this Mrs. Yanderhagen and see if 
she’d help me identify the prisoner, if so be there 
is one? Or what would you advise, ma’am? 
the wife insisting that I come and see you, 
ma’am, and not start on a wild goose chase that 
might kill my chance of appointment instead of 
helping it.” 


BEGINNING THE SEARCH. 


239 


“ No. Do not disturb Mrs. Yanderhagen. If, 
as this article states, she intended to adopt the 
missing girl, she must be greatly wrought up 
over the whole affair. We’ll not raise any false 
hopes. If it is this Delight Koloson I shall cer- 
tainly recognize her and I believe she will me, 
although I saw her but once. However, you go 
for your brother. See that he has the proper 
authority for arresting — anybody needing arrest 
— and, maybe, some other good strong man. I’ll 
tell Helena and put on a street dress. I’ll ring- 
up a messenger boy, too, to go with us. He’ll 
be useful, if we discover anything.” 

“ Indeed, ma’am, it is yourself that has the 
head for the business. What an ornament you’d 
be to the ‘ force ’ if you was eligible, ma’am. 
But whist’s the word. It won’t do to let the 
news out till we’re ready, ma’am.” 

“No fear, Mr. Waters. How soon will you 
have the cab here ? ” 

“In fifteen minutes, ma’am. Exact.” 

“ I will meet it at the door.” 

She did. She had with her a basket of restor- 
atives and nourishments of various sorts, sug- 
gested by Mrs. Percival, who had herself become 
deeply interested in the affair, though neither 
knew just why these were provided. 

They drove away very quietly. The rubber 
tires made little sound upon the pavement and 


240 


THE STORY OF DELIGHT. 


even the good horse stepped as lightly as if he 
realized that his master’s reputation was at stake. 
Mrs. Lester sat erect in the cab, longing to yet 
refraining from betraying the object of their trip 
to* the wondering messenger lad beside her, and 
feeling as if she were the heroine of a modern 
melodrama. Yet, beneath all this excitement, 
with a profound anxiety concerning the girl she 
had come to seek. The policeman and his ally 
followed the cab on foot, and noiselessly. 

When the house in l^ach alley was reached 
it looked as deserted as if it had never been oc- 
cupied. To the most authoritative summons no 
response was accorded and when, finally, the 
door was forced and officer Waters turned his 
lantern about the interior it was silent and 
empty. 

Nor did the most thorough search through the 
few rooms reveal anything further than the fact 
that the tenants of No. 927 had departed, and 
had left no trace behind them to tell whither 
they went. 


CHAPTEE XXIY. 


WHEN ALL THE WORLD WAS STILL. 

They found the sash raised, of that window 
in the front upper room from which Mr. Waters 
had seen the card dropped. The fresh night air 
rushed through the slats of the blind and sent a 
whistling draft up the narrow chimney, fanning 
to life again the coals dying in the grate. 

It seemed as if the person who occupied the 
apartment must return at any moment. There 
was a small bed in one corner, and this was 
neatly made. Indeed, the whole place was 
scrupulously clean and comfortable ; even in the 
tiny bath-room, opening out of the chamber, well 
laundered towels were hung, ready for use. 

Yet when they tried to open the shutters, as 
appeared easy enough, they found the fastening 
to be not an ordinary hasp but an intricate pad- 
lock of finely tempered steel. 

Humph ! This certainly looks queer,’’ ad- 
mitted the policeman, in a low tone, to his brother, 
“ though it’s the first thing I’ve seen yet that 
gives any sort of likelihood to your story. I’ll 
look further and closer.” 


241 


242 


THE STORY OF DELIGHT. 


But the most critical search elicited no more 
information than the first hurried one had done, 
and with great reluctance the party left the 
premises, completely baffled. Indeed, the po- 
liceman, Waters, was far more angry than pleased 
at his aspiring brother’s having “ stirred up all 
this fuss for nothing,” and Mrs. Lester, herself, 
was the only one who still sympathized and be- 
lieved in him. 

She comforted him as he left her at her sister’s 
house, with the remark : 

“ I am more sure now than I was at first that 
there has been somebody locked up in that place. 
I am more convinced that it was our Delight. 
Though I don’t at all understand the matter, I 
will myself pay you handsomely to go on spying, 
and if you succeed in tracing her, in a quiet, 
modest way, I believe your name will go in with 
honor to whoever has the appointment you de- 
sire.” 

“ Thank you, ma’am. I’m sure you’re kind, 
ma’am. In any case, pay or no pay. I’m bound 
to work it up and see what comes. Good-night, 
ma’am. I’m sorry I disturbed 3^ou, but I think 
I should do it again, under like case.” 

Mrs. Lester went up to the sitting-room ad- 
joining her sister’s bedroom, pondering so deeply 
over the incidents of the evening that she 
scarcely noticed a woman sitting quietly sewing 


WHEN ALL THE WORLD WAS STILL, 


243 


by the shaded lamp in the corner. When she 
did look up, questioningly and to give the at- 
tendant leave to retire, she saw — Dalton. 

“ What You here, Dalton ? ” 

“Yes, ma’am. Why not?” asked the maid, 
coolly, though there was a queer, startled look in 
her eyes and a bright flush on her commonly 
pale face. 

“ Oh ! Nothing. I thought you had gone 
home for the night.” 

“ So I did, ma’am. But I’m thankful to say 
my poor father wasn’t needing me, so I came 
back to my other duty. I thought you’d be 
pleased, ma’am, being so unwilling I should have 
gone at all.” 

“That is sufficient.” Mrs. Lester was the 
kindest of mistresses, yet she had never come 
near this employee without growing stern and 
reserved. With a dignity which effectually 
stemmed Dalton’s . flow of talk she passed into 
the inner room where Mrs. Percival awaited 
her. 

“ Haven’t you had any sleep, dear Helena ? ” 

“ How could I sleep, Constance, when I’m 
so excited over this affair of Waters ? Besides — 
do you know that Dalton has come back ? ” 

“ I’ve just seen and dismissed her for the night. 
How long has she been here ? ” 

“ Only a very short time. I didn’t expect her. 


244 


THE STORY OF DELIGHT 


Did you ? Did you go to her house ? Tell liie 
all about it.” 

Mrs. Lester recited what had happened and 
their failure to find Delight ; then asked : 

“ Did Dalton appear just as usual when she did 
come in ? ” 

“ No. She did not. She was breathless and 
more from some excitement than from haste, I 
think. She was confused in her replies to my 
questions and at one moment seemed inclined to 
some burst of confidence, yet the next to think 
better — or worse — of it. I am glad you are back. 
The woman is certainly queer. I don’t think I 
shall keep her, though I hate to send away so 
good a servant, as far as her work goes, and one 
that you have taken so much trouble to secure.” 

‘‘Well, I think that would be better. There 
is positively no fault to find with her, con- 
cerning her duties. She is the most capable per- 
son in her position I ever knew. I don’t wonder 
that whoever she has lived with has endorsed 
her cordially, and hated to part with her as all 
seem to have done. But now, my dear, it’s 
high time an invalid went to sleep. I’ll look 
around and see if everything is right ; then we 
must both forget all excitement for a few hours, 
at least. By morning I hope there will be good 
news in the papers concerning that poor lost 
girl.” 


WHEN ALL THE WORLD WAS STILL. 


245 


An hour later the Percival household was 
asleep. Dalton, who had been tlie last one up, 
coming again to her mistress’ room and peeping 
in, almost over-zealously anxious to fulfil to the 
last degree her duties to that lady. Then she 
sought her own small bedroom, within call of 
the invalid, and sank, apparently, into a profound 
slumber. 

But she did not lose consciousness for one mo- 
ment, though she lay as motionless as a log ; and 
when toward three o’clock, the hour when all the 
world is quiet, she heard a soft scraping sound 
upon the side stoop she merely covered her face 
with her hands and moaned once. 

The house was a corner one and the stoop 
upon the side street, directly under Dalton’s win- 
dow. JSTone save herself heard that dull, ominous 
scraping, as of a sash cautiously forced upward ; 
and why at sound of it should she cover her face 
in an agony of self-torture ? 

“What I would be — and what I am ! ” thought 
the unhappy creature, despairingly. “ Too late — 
too late.” 

For, more weak than wicked by choice, she 
felt that the meshes of her own evil doing were 
slowly but surely closing about her and that, at 
any moment, her affected respectability would 
be known to everybody as a screen only for an- 
other, less reputable life. 


CHAPTER XXY. 


delight’s captivity. 

Delight could not remember how long she 
had been shut up in that room to which Dalton 
had conveyed her on her arrival at Peach alley. 
She had counted the days and nights only to 
forget them in the utter monotony of her ex- 
istence. 

She was not unkindly treated. She had every 
comfort needful save liberty ; and the want of 
that dwarfed all the rest into nothingness. Dal- 
ton had come to her the next morning after her 
imprisonment began and besought the girl not 
only to give up the “ worthless paper ” that “ my 
men want ” but to promise she would not betray 
the means they had used to secure it. 

“ I’ll go home with you to Harmony street and 
explain to your folks that I met you, and invited 
you to visit me. That it was near night, and 
you afraid to go through the streets alone, so 
you consented. That you had overstaid your 
time, not realizing any wrong in so doing ; and 
that for any blame in the matter, or for any un- 
easiness any of them might suffer — though I 
346 


DELIGHT'S CAPTIVITY. 


247 


reckon they’d not be worrying much after one 
they were so unwilling to have come — she, Dal- 
ton, would be responsible. Say yes, dearie, and 
make an end of it.” 

Delight knew but little of evil. All her friends 
had been honest and upright, with lives as open 
as the day. This suggestion of Dalton’s aston- 
ished but did not, in the least, impress her. 

‘‘ AVhy, Dalton, how silly that would be ! and 
how wicked. I think it would be worse, even, 
to let another person tell a lie on my account 
than to tell one myself. If anything could be 
worse. And about that paper. My Aunt De- 
light would have none of it ; but Captain Har- 
riet, who loves me faithfully, bade me keep it 
safe until a right time seemed to come when I 
should show it to somebody I could trust. She 
said it might be worthless, as thee claims, but I 
begin to think it must be very valuable, from 
the fuss that is made over it. I should think 
thee would be ashamed to treat anybody as thee 
is treating me. Please, Dalton, let me go ? ” 

The woman laughed. 

“ Ashamed ! Maybe I am. Maybe it is a long 
time since I have known that feeling. It’s only 
innocent folks who are ever ashamed. But, in- 
deed, I am not so bad as you think. I may as 
well tell you that the men you saw are my hus- 
band, Pete, and his father. The father is exactly 


248 


THE STORY OF DELIGHT, 


what he claims to be, an old shipmate of Enoch 
Legg’s. The paper is something those two old 
codgers have had more than one light over and 
isn’t worth the parchment it’s written on. 1 
really think so. But that doesn’t alter the case. 
You don’t know, you can’t possibly guess, what 
it is to be in the power of two men who stick at 
nothing, as I am. What would you say if I told 
you that I have been beaten by them, many 
times, because I refused to help them in their 
schemes ? I ought not to tell you this, but I do 
it for my own sake as well as yours. I am some- 
times afraid of my life.” 

“Why, Dalton! Yet thee has such a pretty 
home here. Even if it is small it is far more 
fully furnished than my Cousin Hannah’s is, now 
since the failure.” 

“You might not admire it so much if you 

knew how But there’s no need you should 

know. The question is : Will you give up the 
paper to me or my father-in-law if I will take 
you home ?” 

All the firmness, perhaps stubbornness, of the 
Roloson blood was in Delight’s answer. 

“Ho. I will not. What I give 1 give, of my 
free will. Hot because I am afraid. This much 
only I will say. If thee will let me free I will 
go straight back to Harmony street and look that 
miserable paper over. If the family does not 


DELIGHT'S CAPTIVITY. 


249 


think it worth anything I might be tempted to 
give it to thee — though I don’t promise, under- 
stand — but I might possibly, if by so giving — 
the men on tlieir parts would promise not to 
abuse thee any more. I am very sorry for thee, 
Dalton, but I must do right first.” 

“ How could it be wrong,” asked the other 
with a sneer, “ to give away that trifle ? ” 

“Because it may not concern me alone. I 
don’t know what it is ; but if it is of use to my 
cousins it must be kept for them. That is, if it 
is about any money, I must look out for them 
first.” 

“ What makes you think it is about money, 
if you have never seen it ? ” 

Delight regarded the woman keenly, then 
laughed lightly : 

“How, I know it must be. Something in thy 
face tells me so. But though I won’t promise to 
give that up I will promise not to tell my cousins 
how thee kept me here against my will. I will 
tell them I have been here, and I must tell Mrs. 
Yanderhagen, my dear friend, because I was to 
have gone to work for her this very morning.” 

“You? Go to work — for anybody!” ex- 
claimed Dalton, amazed. 

“Yes, indeed. Why not?” 

For a moment the better nature of the woman 
almost prevailed. She was tempted to face what- 


250 


THE STORY OF DELIGHT. 


ever consequences might follow and release this 
innocent and unselfish girl then and there. If 
she had done so she would have been much bet- 
ter off in the future, and thus even her dim ideas 
of right and wrong been strengthened. But she 
moved her head slightly and the pain which the 
action caused was quite sufficient to alter her in- 
clination. There was a bruise upon her neck 
which had been given by rough fingers ; fingers 
which would inflict still greater personal suffer- 
ings if she betrayed her present trust. 

“Well, then, if you are determined to be stub- 
born it isn’t my fault. I’ll see that you have all 
you need to eat and drink until you make uj) 
your mind to give in to my father-in-law’s whim. 
As soon as you do, and agree to keep silence con- 
cerning us, you will be free. I am advertising 
for a new place, and as soon as I secure one 
that suits — that suits — I shall go away. If you 
haven’t got over your wilfulness by then you will 
be alone with my men. How theyHl treat you I 
don’t promise.” 

Delight’s heart sank. Again she was tempted 
to make concession, if by so doing she could pro- 
tect Dalton and regain her own freedom ; and 
again there came to her mind the reflection that 
if this much desired bit of parchment were valu- 
able to one it should be to another and might 
mean a great deal to the impoverished Hudsons, 


DELIGHT'S CAPTIVITY. 


251 


toward whose assistance her ambitions were all 
now turned. 

So she kept silence, and Dalton, seeing no sign 
of 3 delding in the calm girlish face, sighed deeply 
and went away. But she saw to it that the steel 
shutters Avere securely locked and at the foot of 
the stairs turned another key, then shot a bolt 
noisily. 

“ If that doesn’t fetch her, nothing will ! ” 

By Avretched personal experience the poor 
Avoman kneAv Avhat it meant to be deprived of 
one’s liberty, and it Avas by such means as these 
that, early in her married life, she had been 
brought to consent to aid her husband’s nefari- 
ous schemes. 

Delight heard the bolt shoved and Avas able 
then to smile. 

“ It’s so silly for them to try that Avay. The 
more they torment me the less likely I Avill be 
to say yes. And I mustn’t say it. I mustn’t, 
surely, until I knoAV what it is they’re so eager 
for. I wonder Avhat is in old Enoch’s paper! 
And Avhy couldn’t this sailor beloAV have told me 
something about my father, if he kneAv him, in- 
stead of acting this way 1 Well, it’s all a mud- 
dle; but I believe that long before noon they 
Avill have let me out. Hark! There are some 
little children doAvn beloAV in the alley. Snow- 
balling, I guess. Well, one good thing; even if 


252 


THE STORY OF DELIGHT. 


I can’t get the blinds open I can look down be- 
tween the slats. A good thing more, that those 
slats slant downward instead of upward. Ilmm. 
I see a lot of little children, but how forlorn and 
ragged they are ! How dirty, too, beside the 
white snow. My ! but wouldn’t I just love to 
give them all a sea bath ! If I had them down 
at Seabury, and it wasn’t winter ! If — if — if ! 
Anyway, it’s fun to watch them and I had a 
good breakfast. It’s not cold in here, with that 
nice grate; and if I am to be an ‘imprisoned 
princess,’ like ‘Bachelor Jim’s’ tales, I’m well 
cared for. I’ll make tlie best of it — and won’t it 
be a real, truly, romantic story for little Bertrand 
to hear ! ” 

AVith her happy innocence and ignorance of 
evil Delight bore her confinement cheerfully. 
Or it was cheerfully at first. After awhile, 
when Dalton had come to say that she was go- 
ing away to service and that only the “ men ” 
would look after her, her heart failed her. But 
her determination not to yield up the mysterious 
paper never wavered. Hobody should ever get 
that until she knew whether it was of use to her 
friends. 

She watched the children as long as they 
stayed in sight, and they were often beneath her 
window; and when they strolled elsewhere she 
looked about for something else to do. 


DELIGHT'S CAPTIVITY. 


253 


“ If I only had a book ! ” 

But there were no books anywhere about ; so 
Delight was forced to find all her amusement 
from the neglected little alley children. She 
soon learned to distinguish them by name, hear- 
ing their mates calling; and for one child in 
especial she formed a great liking. This was 
lame Amy, whose home was next to Dalton’s, 
and who had, apparently, nobody belonging to 
her save an old and feeble woman. 

But these two seemed of a better sort than 
their neighbors and Delight pondered more and 
more about them. Oddly enough, in the appear- 
ance of the aged woman who now and again 
hobbled from her door, on some needful errand, 
there was a slight resemblance to the stalwart 
and well beloved “ Captain Harriet.” 

Delight could not decide in what this likeness 
lay, but the fact remained that she never saw 
one woman, through the slats of her blind, but 
she instantly recalled the other. 

The girl’s meals were regularly brought to her, 
and were civilly served at first, though always 
with the question : 

“ Are you ready yet to give up the paper ? ” 
Her answer never varied. It was always 
“Ho” ; but as the time wore on and the civility 
of “Pete,” who brought her food, changed to 
incivility even ugliness, her “Ho” was given 


254 


THE STORY OF DELIGHT. 


with less and less decision. This fact her jailer 
was not slow to perceive and he reflected, grimly : 
“ It’s only a question of time. She’ll give in 

soon. If she doesn’t ” 

But what his ominous silence indicated only 
he knew. 


CHAPTEK XXYL 


CAPTAIN HARRIET AGAIN. 

As the evening fell, on the night when De- 
light’s disappearance was so widely advertised, a 
tall figure entered Peach alley and made its un- 
certain way over the rough stones. 

In the dim light, for the lamps are few in 
Chester alleys, one could hardly tell whether this 
were man or woman ; but when at last it paused 
before the door of a house, which opened to the 
sturdy knock, one could see that it was a woman, 
wearing in some sort a man’s attire. A rough 
hat, like a sailor’s, covered the tall grey head and 
around the broad shoulders was fastened an oil- 
skin cape. Beneath this showed the fringe of a 
red shawl ; but the old woman who opened the 
door saw little of the apparel because of the face 
of its wearer. 

At the first ray of light upon this both the 
visitor and the hostess exclaimed in one glad 
breath : 

“ My sister ! ” 

‘‘ Harriet — you’ve come ! ” 

“ Aye, Bachel. At last ! ” 


255 


256 


THE STORY OF DELIGHT. 


Then the door closed and the alley was again 
a dark, uncannj^ place. 

But Delight, through her shutter’s slats, had 
been idly watching and fearing. She had now 
become utterly terrified at her position. “ Pete’s ” 
manner had grown more and more menacing and 
her long solitude had told upon even her healthy 
nerves. She felt as if she must give up this un- 
even contest of wills and face the chances of its 
working ill to others. For herself it was surely 
ill enough and her courage was at -low ebb. 

But it was unusually still in the house below. 
She had seen the old sailor father depart, some 
hours since, and from the silence she hoped that 
his son had also gone ; though, in truth, neither 
ever visited her unless compelled, in order to 
bring her food. Indeed, of late, that had been 
merely shoved in to her, upon a tray, and after 
the invariable question : “Will you give up ?” no 
further speech was vouchsafed. Once each day 
Dalton appeared ; generally at evening, and 
though Delight felt that the woman was power- 
less to help her, yet she still welcomed these 
visits as an agreeable break to those hard days of 
solitude. 

She was watching now, partly to see Dalton 
come home, partly to learn if “ Pete ” had gone 
or was going out, when that strange figure came 
down the alley. 


CAPTAIN HARRIET AGAIN 


257 


Before the door had opened to receive it she 
had recognized it and been turned breathless by 
the fact. But so soon as the voices reached her 
through her open window she rallied and 
screamed. 

Screamed as only a young, healthy, and 
thoroughly frightened girl can scream. 

More than one head came out of windows 
thereabout, and all soon knew that the noise pro- 
ceeded from the Daltons’ number. But nobody 
could understand the meaning of the cry : 

“ Captain Harriet ! Oh, Captain, Captain Har- 
riet ! ” 

“What’s that?” demanded the stranger, of 
old Kachel. 

“Nought, lass, but some wretched soul in tor- 
ment.” 

“Hist. Your wits are addled, living alone 
here so long. How came it that you never wrote 
to let me know where your bark had stranded 
these twenty years ? Hark ! There it is again ! 
And, if the wind’s right, it’s a ship of my own 
name is saluted.” 

“ Oh ! ” cried old Rachel, “ but it’s good to 
hear the half-sailor speech again. It’s the breath 
of the sea in my nostrils. And you’re breezy, 
too, like the ocean, even yet. You bear your years 
well, Harriet, lass.” 

“ Far better than you, sister, and that’s true. 


258 


THE STORY OF DELIGHT. 


Why not? Since I live in God’s open and not 
in one of men’s dirty side-lanes like this. Faugh ! 
If this is the city, how’ll my bonny Delight fare 
here, indeed.” 

“ Delight ? That’s a Koloson name, I trow.” 

“Eight. And this Delight, like all the others 
gone before, the very bonniest sort of woman- 
flesh the Lord ever made. Somewhere in this 
Chester city she is this minute and it’s part to 
find her that I answered your letter in person. 
It was uncommon rough to leave old Enoch, for 
he’s as contrary as ever, multiplied by ten. But 
‘Bachelor Jim’ — you mind him, Kachel? lie’s 
set to sail his craft till I go home. Which must 
be to-morrow, and you and the little one with 
me. How happens it, I say, that you never 
wrote before ? ” 

“ Well, I never was in such need. But they’re 
all gone. All. Only Amy, here, who was my 
own Amy’s child. I’ve had friends, of course, 
and as long as I could work well, I was not so 
badly off. Now, it’s so little I can do ; and this 
winter the rheumatism worse than ever. The 
child, too, I can’t die and leave her to grow up in 
Peach alley.” 

The woman shivered, and in the silence there 
came again and again that lusty scream : 

“ Harriet ! Captain — Captain Harriet ! ” 

She who was called was out of the place in a jiffy. 


CAPTAIN HARRIET AGAIN. 


259 


“ Who calls ? Here am I ! Harriet Legg, of 
Seabury township. Who wants her?” 

“ I ! 1 ! Thy own ‘ little Delight ’ ! ” 

“ Aye ! Aye ! It’s Delight’s voice ! Where 
from ? Up there ? Come down to me ! — quick ! 
Till I get my old arms about your bonny neck ! 
To think of stumbling on her here ! ” she mur- 
mured, striding to the door of Ho. 927 and trying 
to open it. 

But it resisted all her efforts, and by this time 
many dwellers of the alley had come outside 
their own houses and stood watching the out- 
come of the matter with an idle curiosity. But 
it wasn’t for them to interfere. There was very 
little meddling with the affairs of others by the 
alleyites. It was a locality where it was safest 
to know nothing and to literally mind one’s own 
business. 

So, though Captain Harriet turned toward 
some of these staring neighbors for help to open 
this closed door not one of them volunteered it. 

“ Come down and let me in, child ! ” 

“ I can’t. I’m locked in. Oh ! captain — my 
captain ! ” This time the cry ended in a hys- 
terical burst of tears. Help had come and so un- 
expectedly, and of such a heaven-sent sort it 
seemed to the prisoner, that her self-control gave 
way entirely. 

Then she heard her old friend demanding : 


260 


THE STORY OF DELIGHT. 


“ By all the red herring ! Why can’t you ? 
and I so wild to reach you.” 

So she rallied and replied : 

“ Because I’m locked in, I tell thee ! ” 

“ Locked — in ! I didn’t believe it. Who 

dared ? Is it a Hudson ? ” 

It was little lame Amy who solved the riddle. 
“ She’s a girl. She won’t do something ‘ Pete ’ 
and old Uncle Dan want. So they won’t let her 
out till she will. Wait. There she comes.” 

The child pointed down the alley where a 
woman was rapidly approaching. At sight of 
her all the other residents slunk within their 
own doors and closed them carefully. Dalton 
in herself was not a person to fear ; but her hus- 
band and father were ill to offend. Besides, few 
of them knew how soon a mutual good turn 
might be needed for themselves, so they forbore 
either to make or mar, and quietly, if sneakingly, 
retreated. 

Dalton came up just as Captain Harriet was 
laying her strong hand against the panel with 
evident intent to smash it in. 

“ Hold on there, woman. What’s doing ? ” 

“ Who are you ? ” 

Tlie mistress of this liouse.” 

“ Open it, then.” 

“ At whose orders ? ” 

“Mine.” 


CAPTAIN HARRIET AGAIN. 


261 


« Why should I ? ” 

“ Because you have shut up my Delight Rolo- 
son in it. So she tells me from the window.” 

“ Your Delight lioloson ? Who may she be, 
pray ? and who are you ? ” 

“I am Harriet Legg, wife of Captain Enoch 
Legg, if you please. I reckon you know who 
Delight Roloson is even if you don’t know me.” 

Now the name of Enoch Legg had never been 
famous in history but it was sufficient just then 
to turn Anne Dalton cold. How many unfore- 
seen complications were arising and how was 
she, were they who belonged to her, to meet them ? 

For a few seconds she stood still, reflecting. 
She had been in tight places before ; she had had 
to “ turn many sharp corners ” at a reckless pace. 
She now decided her course almost instantly and 
laying a hand that trembled, indeed, but was not 
unkind in its touch upon Captain Harriet’s wrist, 
she said very quietly : 

“ Wait, good woman. There is no occasion for 
this violence. If Delight Roloson is in this house 
now and wishes to come out of it to you, she 
shall do so within five minutes and — of her oion 
free wilV^ 

With this she produced a key, unfastened the 
outer door and disappeared within the premises ; 
leaving Captain Harriet tapping her heavy foot 
impatiently without. 


CHAPTER XXYIL 


AN EVENTFUL MORNING. 

Time was when Mrs. Yanclerbagen had found 
her days almost monotonously peaceful and quiet. 
But that time was past. After a night of sleep- 
less anxiety concerning Delight’s fate she came 
down to breakfast only to be disturbed by a 
fresh calamity. 

Mr. Yanderhagen passed her his own paper, 
folded so that she might see at once the article 
he had himself promptly discovered. Indeed, 
could not fail to discover since it was printed 
with the same sort of catching headlines as had 
been the notices of Delight’s disappearance. 

“ There, my dear, is something that will inter- 
est you and give you somebody to think about, 
besides that poor girl.” 

“ AV hat’s this? Robbery? The handsome 
residence of our distinguished citizen and famous 
attoi’ney, Pulaski Percival, looted by burglars. 
During the absence of the noted jurist thieves 
break into and rifle the judge’s home, carrying 
off his most elegant plate and bric-a-brac. Heir- 
looms that cannot be replaced among the missing 
262 


AN EVENTFUL MORNING. 


263 


plunder. The robbery accomplished, probably, in 
the early morning and without arousing any of 
the family. Detectives now at work. Kesults 
promised soon.’’ 

Mrs. Yanderhagen read the sensational news 
in silence, exclaiming after she had finished : 

“ Poor Helena ! Poor Constance ! What an 
awful experience.” 

“ Bad enough, of course. But if, as the paper 
says, they passed through the affair unconsciously 
they have been spared something.” 

“Well. I used to think that Chester was a 
quiet and safe city to dwell in.” 

“Quite as safe as ever, my dear. There have 
been such disappearances and robberies constantly 
occurring in our midst and we have never heeded 
them. It’s only when things come home to our- 
selves that we ever notice them much. It’s a 
rather selfish world, I fear. But, one thing I 
thought of last night yet did not mention. How 
did the fact, which we had hardly acknowledged 
to ourselves, leak out — about our desire to adopt 
the girl. Delight?” 

“Oh! easily enough. Didn’t I tell you? I 
spoke of it at the Hudsons' house and that young 
fellow, George, must have thought it an item to 
influence the paper to print the advertisement, 
even though so late. I felt that it would do 
them good to know the child they had lost, and 


264 


THE STORY OF DELIGHT. 


had not been too fond of, had found new and 
admiring friends. Nothing succeeds like success, 
you know — and Delight must be a success, 
Blasius — and I fancied it did tell. But about 
this robbery. I must go around and see the 
‘ girls,’ directly after breakfast. Mary,” turning 
to the waitress, “ ring and order the carriage to be 
ready at nine o’clock.” 

“ There’s nothing new in this edition about 
Delight. Hark ! What’s that ? Somebody to 
see me ? So early ? ” 

“You’re a woman of affairs, nowadays, Hen- 
rietta,” laughed the husband, as another servant 
came to say that there was a young person be- 
low who wished to speak with the mistress on 
business most important. 

“ What sort of business did she say ? ” 

“ She didn’t say, ma’am. A young girl, and 
was most impatient to be let in.” 

“ A beggar ? ” 

“ Oh ! no, ma’am. Not a beggar, but a — a 
young lady, I should say. Quite young.” 

“ AYell, let her come in. But I can’t be hin- 
dered long. I’m in a hurry to get off and if her 
business is something she can tell you, I’d rather 
she did.” 

A moment later a light footstep came tripping 
along the tiled hallway and a clear voice asked : 

“ Is this the room ? This one ? ” 


AN EVENTFUL MORNING. 


265 


“ Delight ! It’s Delight ! ” cried both the Y an- 
derhagens in one breath ; and as the portiere 
lifted, showing a girlish figure in the aperture, 
Mrs. Yanderhagen rushed forward with a joyful 
cry : 

“ Oh ! you precious child ! So you’ve found 
yourself ! ” 

Delight laughed gaily, yet tears sprang to her 
eyes at this loving greeting from her new friends 
and she touched the lady’s cheek with her lips, 
impulsively, again and again. 

“JSTo, no, indeed! I didn’t find myself. It 
Avas darling Captain Harriet who found me. 
See. Here she is, and George, to keep us in 
sight for fear we’d lose the way and oh I I am so 
glad to be here again ! ” 

“ Darling Captain Harriet ” was so unique in 
appearance that the fashionable lady half caught 
her breath before she could go forward and give 
a hand of welcome to the gaunt stranger. Yet 
one look into the gravedigger’s honest eyes was 
sufficient to prove that Delight had not over- 
rated the woman’s good qualities, as she had de- 
scribed them during their first interview. 

So this is ‘ Captain Harriet,’ of ‘ Seabury 
township.’ We are very glad to see you ; and 
you, too, Mr. Hudson. I never before knew an 
advertisement to bring about such speedy and 
happy results. You are to bQ Qongratulated, 


266 


THE STORY OF DELIGHT. 


young sir, and I advise you to follow the news- 
paper business, you’ve made such a hit already ! ” 
said Mr. Yanderhagen, his own genial face beam- 
ing with pleasure at this turn of affairs. 

“But come. Come to breakfast, everybody. 
We can talk over our coffee, and this child here 
must explain how and why she has given us all 
so much anxiety.” 

An instant change came over Delight’s bonny 
face and she unclasped her arms from Mrs. Y^n- 
derhagen’s, with a grave motion. 

“ Indeed, thee mustn’t ask me to do that. I 
can’t. I can’t. I would, if I could. But I’ve 
promised. I could not help giving everybody all 
this trouble yet I can’t tell where I have been ; 
or, rather, why I have been where I have. The 
place was Peach alley. Captain Harriet found 
me there. At the house of Anne Dalton who 
used to live with George’s family. She was 
good to me. I had plenty to eat ; only — I could 
not go home, very well.” 

“ Ho, ma’am, I should say she couldn’t ! Be- 
ing kept under lock and key, as she was. But 
that’s all I can get out of her, or anybody can. 
Here she sails, in clear sight of all hands, yet 
what it all means that’s happened she’ll tell no 
more than a fish. Yet it was her screaming 
from the window, and me going to see my sister, 
next door, that settled fhe business. I’ll admit 


AN EVENTFUL MORNING. 


267 


the woman Avas pleasant’ enough, saving a bit of 
sharpness, at my trying to break in lier door. 
But she said, like this : ‘ In five minutes Delight 
Boloson shall come down to you of her own free 
will,’ and she did. But as mum as an oyster 
what it all means. Though I’ve my suspicions, 
all the same. However it’s nor yes nor no to 
them will the child say.” 

‘‘ Delight, come to breakfast. A cup of moth- 
er’s coffee — she makes it right here on the table 
herself — will loosen the most stubborn tongue,” 
urged the host. 

She laughed and declined : 

“ Why, we had breakfast long ago, in Harmony 
street. It’s — it must be ever so late.” 

“Yes, so it is; for Avorkaday folks. Though 
it’s not so bad after all. But come. Take a sec- 
ond bit. It Avill convince us that you’re really 
here in the body if we see you eat.” 

So, though none required it and Captain 
Harriet Avould greatly have preferred not, the 
visitors grouped themseh^es around the table, 
and the talk fioAved merrily on. In her happi- 
ness at the restoration of the girl to Avhom her 
childless heart had gone out so warmly Mrs. 
Yanderhagen almost forgot the trouble of her 
other friends, Avho had suffered robbery. 

It was not till the carriage was announced that 
she remembered and rose from the table, 


268 


THE HWKY OF DELIGHT. 


“My clear! I don’t know what to do with 
you. Some old schoolmates of mine, one of them 
an invalid, had their home broken into last night. 
It’s in this morning’s paper. I must go to see 
them but — I’m almost as much afraid to take 
you with me as to leave you here. You’re such 
an elusive little girl ” 

“ Please leave me here, then. I will begin 
that mending right away, if thee pleases. Cap- 
tain Harriet would like to stay with me, too, for 
she says she doesn’t want to lose me from her 
sight, having come away here half on purpose to 
see me.” 

“ Half on purpose ? Why the rest, if I may 
ask.” 

“ To look after her old sister and maybe take 
her back to dear Seabury, where she was born — 
oh I how glad she will be to get there ! after liv- 
ing in that dirt}^ alley.” 

“ Child, I hate to go. But you’ll promise to 
stay till I come back.” 

“ Yes, indeed. Haven’t I the lace to mend ? 
If thee will tell me wliere to find it.” 

“ Mary will show you. It is in a basket in my 
sitting-room. I had it all ready for you that 
morning after Christmas, even to the thimble 
and needles.” 

“ But I’ve brought my own thimble, see ? It’s 
one that auntie darling gave me. I can sew bet- 


AN EVENTFUL 3I0KN1NG. 


269 


ter with this on, I fancy. And one thing more. 
We have brought something else. I would like 
to ask Mr. Yanderhagen about it. A paper, or a 
parchment. I don’t understand wbat it means 
but George says it is wonderful, and even Cap- 
tain Harriet thinks some wise body ought to see 
it and explain. So I fetched it to thee, Mr. Yan- 
derhagen, if thee has time.” 

“I shall always have time for you, dear girl,” 
answered the gentleman, cordially, and secretly 
pleased by her confidence in him. 

“ Well — I mtcst just wait to know about that ! ” 
cried the lady ; then added : “ Only — the horses 
have been clipped. They ought not to stand in 
the cold. So I suppose ; and. I’ll have to go. 
If it’s good news it will keep ; and if it’s bad, 
I’m in no hurry.” 

Kissing Delight, and allowing the maid to put 
on her wraps, Mrs. Yanderhagen departed. Mr. 
Yanderhagen accompanied her to the carriage 
and saw her comfortably started on her errand 
of sympathy, then returned to his guests. Hot 
because he was growing old and they had been 
long married did he ever in the least relax in the 
small courtesies of life toward his faithful wife ; 
and even Captain Harriet was moved to admira- 
tion by this fact. 

‘‘ He’s as like a Koloson as can be. Delight. 
That was always their way with women. Kough 


V 


270 


THE STORY OF DELIGHT. 


and ready on the sea, but honoring every woman 
like a queen. That’s a gentleman, little Delight. 
Learn the signs of one in time.” 

“ I will,” laughed the happy girl, as their host 
returned. 

lie invited them into the library and there 
spread out upon the table the yellowed parch- 
ment which at Delight’s request, lie drew from 
the old Doloson wallet, lie began its silent pe- 
rusal with little expectation of finding any great 
matter contained therein ; but he had not pro- 
ceeded far before his expression so altered that 
George nodded his head significantly toward his 
cousin, as if to say : “ 1 told you so ! ” 

The gentleman read the whole document once, 
and then a second time, with utmost care. After 
which he looked up at Delight and remarked : 

“If this is genuine — if it is genuine, I say — 
this is a very astonishing, and probably, a most 
valuable document.” 


CHAPTER XXYIII. 


THE AMATEUR DETECTIVE. 

After leaving Mrs. Lester at her sister’s 
house, Mr. Waters went home, put up his horse, 
and, still possessed by that detective ambition, 
returned on foot to Peach alley. 

He had learned from the servant who ad- 
mitted Mrs. Lester that Dalton had come back 
to her post, and this greatly surprised him. He 
had not believed that she would ever again be 
seen there. 

“ But, all the same, that don’t lessen the fact 
that things are crooked. I can’t sleep. Pm that 
disappointed,” the cabman had remarked to his 
wife upon his second departure for the scene of 
his “ mystery.” 

‘‘ And I will say you’re a fool for your pains, 
man alive. How any decent, respectable body 
can’t be contented to do a day’s honest work and 
leave the rest to others, beats me,” she had ex- 
postulated, but in vain. 

“ It’s borne in on me, woman, that this thing 
will be the making of us. Think ! What would 
be your feelings to see your husband’s name in 

271 


^72 


THE STORY OF DELIGHT. 


the daily newspapers as a great, smart officer, 
that has beat all the others in the city of 
Chester ? ” 

“ My feelings would be that this same city of 
Cliester must be chock full of fools when they 
set a plain, no-scholar-cabby to be the top of the 
heap. So there you have my sentiments in a 
nutshell, and be off, if you’re going, so a body 
that has sense may get a wink of sleep.” 

With this cold sympathy the asjhring jehu was 
forced to be content ; but he went away more 
than ever resolved that not only his wife but all 
his townsmen should yet acknowledge his won- 
derful powers of penetration. 

“ Sure it’s a fine thing the folks in Peach al- 
ley don’t shovel their paths. This snow is as 
good as a feather bed to deaden the sound of a 
man’s foot; besides I was that wise I put on my 
arctics to more soften any noise there might be.” 

With this cogitation Mr. Waters reached the 
neighborhood of his “quarry.” 

The house stood silent and dim, exactly as he 
had seen it on his previous visit with Mrs. 
Lester. Indeed, an almost unnatural stillness 
hung over the whole neighborhood. Every house 
was dark, save that in the kitchen of No. 925 a dim 
light glowed through the glass above the door ; 
yet even here the shutters were fastened and 
Mr. Waters hesitated a while before he decided 


THE AMATEUR DETECTIVE. 273 

to knock and arouse the inmates. For an excuse 
he remembered that he had lost a lap robe from 
the cab, when he had driven here before, and 
was now rather glad of the accident. 

So he put a bold face on the matter and rapped 
smartly upon the dingy door. 

For a while there was no answer; then, as he 
kept up his demands for admittance, a sharp 
voice called from behind the latch : 

“ Who’s there ? ” 

“ A man looking for a lost robe.” 

“ Ha ! Lost things are ill to find in Peach 
alley. I’ve seen no robe, anyway.” 

“ Is anybody living next door ? ” 

There was a moment’s hesitation ; then the re- 
ply : “ I’m not bothering with who lives any- 

where.” 

“You needn’t be afraid. It’s all right, but 
I’ll just mention there’s a reward of five dollars 
going to the one that finds it.” 

“ Five — dollars ! For a bit of blanket ? Well, 
I’ve seen none, though if that’s true I wish I 
had.” 

By this time the woman, Kachel, had opened 
the door a crack and peered out at her visitor. 
Five-dollar bills were mines of wealth to such as 
lived in Peach alley and the mention of one 
acted like magic. Besides, at that moment, a 
shrill little treble piped up : 


274 


THE STORY OF DELIGHT. 


“ Say, granny, I seen it ! ” 

“You never!” 

“ But, granny, I did. I know where it is now.” 

Eachel was honest. She naturally believed 
others to be, save that long residence among 
doubtful neighbors had rendered her suspicious. 
At her grandchild’s assertion she opened the door 
widely. 

“Come in, man, and hear what the child can 
tell. I’ve seen no blanket and if you’ve come to 
rob me you’ll like have your trouble for your 
pains. There’s naught left in my poor home to 
be worth carrying away.” 

Mr. Waters entered and closed the door. 
Whereupon small Amy hobbled forward, drag- 
ging her useless limb behind her. “ Show us the 
five dollars,” said she, with the shrewdness which 
her poverty, and intercourse with alleyites, had 
taught her. 

Old Eachel laughed. “ Aye, but she’s a canny 
child ! ” 

Mr. Waters smiled in his blandest manner, and 
with a great flourish drew forth a fresh green bill 
and held it up to view. 

“ I’m showing you the money ; now you show 
me the robe. When we can match each other 
we’ll change hands.” 

The child beamed with delight. “ That’ll buy 
us coals and potatoes, grann}^ ! ” 


THE AMATEUR DETECTIVE. 


275 


“ Where’s the blanket, Amy ? ” demanded the 
old Avoman, trembling with eagerness. 

“ In the shed behind.” 

“ How came it there ? ” 

“We found it. We children. We kept it to 
play under. It gets cold sometimes. We was 
going to make a house out of it. We hid it, 
though, ’cause it was ours and we found it.” 

“ Who besides you, child ? ” 

“Only Jimmy Smith. He’s lame, too, you 
know. We hid it. ’Cause if Ave hadn’t some- 
body ’d a hooked it. He’s a coming in the morn- 
ing and Ave didn’t tell the rest. They’d all gone 
in. It AA^as dark and AA^e Avas the last ones out, 
and — we didn’t Avant to.” 

The old Avoman interrupted the child’s glib 
talk. 

“ Show the man the place, Amy.” 

“ He needn’t. I’ll fetch it.” 

The little creature limped through a rear door- 
Avay into a bit of a court, common to several 
tenements, and presently returned, dragging the 
heavy plush robe behind her. Her face glowed 
and her eyes shone, though her breath Avas short 
from her exertion. 

“My! But it’s a beauty! You found that, 
child, and ne\^er told granny ?” 

“Well, I was going. But you Avas all fussed 
up ’bout that Harriet Avoman coming, and the 


276 


THE STORY OF DELIGHT. 


girl, too, out of Mis’ Dalton’s, and you didn’t pay 
no attention when I pulled you and said the man 
dropped it. For I did say that. Only, you kept 
sitting still and acting queer talking that ’bout 
‘ She’s come at last,’ and ‘ My sister, Harriet ! ’ 
Vou didn’t mind me much, after they went off 
together ; and we wanted it ourselves, ’cause we’d 
found it. I didn’t mean no naughty, grann}^ 
’deed I didn’t. Only, it’s so soft and warm ; ” and 
down she dropped upon it with a delicious sense 
of comfort and content. 

As he looked upon her, pleased at her enjoy- 
ment, a sudden inspiration flooded the recesses of 
Mr. Waters’ brain. The idea was so brilliant that 
it startled even himself ; and it was also hazard- 
ous. Yet it was simply — to make a confidante, to 
a certain degree, of this old woman (a dweller 
on the very spot), of his beliefs concerning the 
house next door. 

llis face assumed a preternatural gravity and, 
as if trying to read the inmost secrets of her sim- 
ple soul, he fixed a stern glance upon the aged 
householder and stared at her for a full minute 
without speaking a word. 

At first Eachel was frightened ; then she ral- 
lied. She was of the same stock from which 
Captain Harriet came and she was conscious of 
no evil doing which entitled her to such a fearful 
scrutiny. She lost her temper, which proved 


THE A3IATEUB DETECTIVE. 


277 


to be a good thing for all coiicei*ned and brought 
Mr. Waters’ imagination down to the level of 
common sense. 

“ Hoot, man ! What’s taken you ? That you 
stare at a body as if you never set eyes on an old 
woman before, llinm. There’s your blanket, 
and the sooner you take it and be off, the better. 
I’m not so unfriended as I look, nowadays,” she 
concluded, with a proud recollection of her sister’s 
visit, and presence in the town. 

“ It’s because I see at a glance, at a glance, 
ma’am, that you’re the honestest soul ever walked 
the earth, that I’m going to tell you the truth. 
It’s a fact that the robe is mine — here’s the num- 
ber of my cab, a licensed man of business, ma’am 
— and I lost it in this alley, as I said. But I 
didn’t come seeking that so much as something 
else. And that’s information, ma'am. Which 
you can give me, better most like than any other 
person, and for which I’m willing to pay liberal. 
Liberal, ma’am. Not such a trumpery bit of 
money as this ; ” and he coolly flipped the bank 
note to the child, as if it were of but trifling 
value. 

“ Hold, you silly ! Any man, any man, rich or 
poor, that goes tossing good bills about such a 
way can’t be right in his head. Money’s money, 
and the stuff to take care of. By your looks 
you’re not a millionaire, yourself. So get down 


278 


THE STORY OF DELIGHT. 


off your high horse and quit your airs and talk 
business. Say your say, first, all through ; then 
I’ll say mine. Quite like, betwixt us, we’ll hit 
the same subject, and square.” 

Thus adjured, Mr. Waters “ said his say” ; AAdth 
the result that a complete understanding was ar- 
rived at, and that when old Itachel extinguished 
her light, a few minutes later, Mr. Waters was 
left in sole possession of the small kitchen and 
of a conveniently broken partition wall of whose 
existence the tenants of the next house had had 
no knowledge. 


CHAPTER XXIX. 

MR. waters’ opinion. 

By midnight Mr. Waters had become so as- 
sured of his own success, and his pride in himself 
so intense, that he could scarcely contain himself. 
Only by reminding himself that absolute silence 
was necessary to his scheme did he refrain from 
executing’ a sort of triumphal dance, there in old 
Rachel’s kitchen, and on her rickety boards. 

For exactly what he had hoped for happened. 

When all the alley was at its quietest, there 
stole along in the shadow of the high board fence 
which bordered it, first one and a few moments 
later, a second, cautiously creeping man. 

They entered, still with utmost caution, the 
empty tenement, next door ; and after a little 
descended to its kitchen which corresponded in 
size and position to that occupied by the embryo 
detective. 

The two kitchens were separated by a thin 
wall, as has been said, and under other circum- 
stances the men — old Daniel and Pete — might 
have been less careless of being overheard. As 
it was, they had lived long and safely beside old 

279 


280 


THE STORY OF DELIGHT. 


Rachel and knew her to be the least meddling of 
neighbors, and probably the least suspicious. 
Besides, they did not dream that words spoken 
on their side the wall, which there appeared 
sound, could be heard upon the other. 

Almost the first thing they did, after striking 
a light, was to quarrel. The window of their 
kitchen was heavily boarded up, and the glass 
above its outer door was also boarded ; so that 
they knew no ray of light could escape from it 
into the outer world : whereas over old Rachel’s 
the glass was open to the day. 

They were angry over the course their affairs 
had taken, and each blamed the other for some 
mismanagement in regard to Delight. 

“ If you’d have tried coaxing, ’stead of bully- 
ing, she’d a given the paper without trouble,” 
said old Daniel. “ But you had to go spoil all 
with your goings on. Them Rolosons, I know 
’em, are stubborn as mules. You can lead but 
can’t drive ’em. And now, nobody knows ” 

“ Hold your tongue,” ordered the disrespectful 
son. “ I’m not the only one blundered. If 
Sally’d ” 

“ Ilmin. I reckon she's got her hands full.” 

“Well, so I mean to have before morning. 
Hark. We’ve got this other matter on. It must 
be done to-night and Sally’s gone back to get 
ready. Get out the padded bags and let’s fix up.” 


MB. WATERS' OPINION. 


281 


Whereupon, Mr. Waters, with his eye glued to 
the hole in the wall, watched operations which 
made his blood boil at the same time that they 
rendered him almost frantic with suppressed ex- 
citement. 

These preparations need not be explained at 
length ; but they were such as professional house- 
breakers make for one of their nefarious at- 
tempts. 

The men ceased to quarrel, as they became 
absorbed in this later interest, and very shortly 
they left the house. 

Almost at the same moment Mr. Waters 
emerged from that of old Kachel, to do his first 
“ shadowing ” of suspicious characters. Again 
and again he blessed his own forethought in 
wearing the arctics, whose rubber soles softened 
his footsteps ; though, indeed, the two men whose 
winding road he tracked had grown alarmed at 
their own tardiness and hurried to their rendez- 
vous with little thought of what lay behind 
them. 

There followed a long and wearisome tramp 
for Mr. Waters, who was much more accustomed 
to riding than to walking, and wlio found this es- 
pecial exercise most difficult. He had often to 
pause to hide, while the men crossed some wide, 
well lighted space, lest they should turn about 
and discover that they were being pursued. 


282 


THE STORY OF DELIGHT. 


Then there were sudden and frequent turnings of 
corners which perplexed the good cabman not a 
little. 

But always, after each delay, he would be able 
again to trace them ; and so by devious twistings 
and cross directions, they came at last to a pretty 
park in a locality familiar to him. Into this 
park they entered and disappeared among some 
mighty spruces whose branches swept the ground. 

Then did Mr. Waters rub his hands with glee, 
and yet with anxiety : 

“ I thought so ! I thought so ! ” 

But what he thought he did not say ; and he, 
likewise, hid himself and waited in the gather- 
ing intensity of cold with what patience he might 
for their reaj)pearance. 

“ It’s reappear they will, indeed. And it’s to 
the house of our own young ladies (Mrs. Les- 
ter and Mrs. Percival) — “ that those villains are 
set. Dalton’s the one ! Dalton’s the one ! For 
there’s ever a woman at the bottom of things 
and ” 


CHAPTER XXX. 


MASTER IN HIS OWN HOUSE. 

Some hours later, in the warm security of his 
own sunlighted bedroom, Mr. Waters completed 
his sentence. The last idea in his mind, before 
he was stunned into unconsciousness, was the 
first to reenter it when that consciousness was 
regained. 

“ — Always a woman, and the woman in this 
case is — Dalton.’’ 

“ Oh ! she is, is she ? And who, pray, may 
this bottommost ‘ Dalton ’ be ? ” demanded a de- 
lighted feminine voice, though with an affectation 
of sternness. 

The amateur detective opened his eyes and saw 
his wife. It slowly dawned upon him that he 
had overslept and been dreaming and that she 
had gone crazy. For she was holding a bowl of 
some hot, steaming liquid in a hand that trembled 
so it spilled the contents in his face. Moreover 
she was actually — kissing him ! 

“ For the land’s sake ! What’s all — this ? ” he 
gasped. 

“ So you would go play detective, would you ? 
Go and gad about the streets at an hour when 

283 


284 


THE STORY OF DELIGHT. 


honest men are in their beds. Well it was for you 
that you’ve been known to have lived decent, and 
your own brother found you. Him and another 
officer happened to walk that beat, or only con- 
science knows whether you’d have frozen to 
death there on the grouncl. How came you in 
the park? What happened you, anyway? 
AVho knocked you on the head, if that was it ? ” 

That Mrs. Waters should talk “a blue streak ” 
was quite natural ; and for once her stream of 
words had the most soothing effect upon her 
husband. They tided over a space of time, dur- 
ing which he obediently drank the broth she held 
to his lips, and let his scattered wits recover 
themselves. 

Then he went to sleep again, and when he 
awoke this time it was in full possession of his 
faculties, and with the consciousness that he was 
a rather badly injured person. For he could not 
move his head without much suffering, and his 
whole body seemed as stiff “as if it had been 
pounded.” 

“ Which it may have been for aught we know. 
But there ! the doctor said 1 wasn’t to talk too 
much nor let you. Only I know you’ll be glad 
to hear that the Percivals have been robbed — 
awful. And Miss Constance has telegrafted the 
judge and he’s telegrafted back and they haven’t 
let Miss Helena know, on account of her nerves, 


MASTER IN HIS OWN HOUSE. 


285 


and he’s coining by the next train. May be here 
now, for aught I know, and Miss Constance, 
that’s Mis’ Lester, won’t talk at all to anybody 
till the judge comes. I mean won’t tell a word 
she thinks and they haven’t the least idea and no 
trace where to look for the thieves. All that’s 
in the papers and where I read it myself. And 
what, Mr. Waters, was you a doing in that park 
at that time of night ? It’s a long call from 
Peach alley, where you started for, to the spot 
where your brother picked you up. And for men 
that don’t tell their own wives their business 
they generally comes to trouble soon or late. 
Say, where was you ? ” 

“ Wife — shut up ! ” 

“W-h-a-t!” she gasped. 

“ Your tongue runs like a mill race and I want 
to think. If you say another word I’ll — I’ll — 
thrash you ! ” 

This was so amazing that it had the desired ef- 
fect. Mr. Waters was the meekest of men, in the 
presence of his wife and on ordinary occasions, 
but this he felt to be something quite out of or- 
dinary and requiring the utmost consideration 
on his part. Else, maybe, he had scarcely dared 
to so command his better half. She was going 
away, really more afraid concerning his sanity 
than from any offence taken, when he suddenly 
recalled her. 


286 


THE STORY OF DELIGHT. 


“ Put on your bonnet.’’ 

“ What — for ? ” 

“ Because I tell you ! ” he roared. 

She obeyed. 

“ Now go straight to the Percivals’ house. 
Tell the judge to come to me.” 

“ Sakes alive ! Now I’m sure you’re clean 
daft. The idea ! It’s one thing to order to 
put my bonnet on, which is no great matter, but 
it’s quite another to order Judge Percival to 
come to you. Him maybe not in Chester city 
yet, at all. Ilmm. You poor, poor suffering 
creature ! ” 

“ You do as I say ! You put your shawl on, 
too. Then you go for the judge. Immediate. 
If he isn’t there you tell Mrs. Lester. Tell her 
it’s most important to the matter she and I had 
in hand. Tell her them words and ask no ques- 
tions. In good time I’ll tell you, and for once 
you’ll find it maybe pays to sometimes hold your 
tongue.” 

“And leave you? Sick and smashed up as 
you be ? ” 

“ Leave me — yes. I’ll be thankful to be left 
so’s I can get my thoughts into some sort of 
shape before the judge comes. He’s a man that 
don’t talk but just acts. Hurry up, I tell you.” 

“ All right. I guess a man as cross as you be 
isn’t in no great danger of suffering nor dying, if 


MASTER IN HIS OWN HOUSE. 


287 


he ts left ! And I won’t ask you another ques- 
tion. Never. See if I do ! ” 

With which dire threat Mrs. Waters departed, 
closing the door behind her with some needless 
energy. 


CHAPTER XXXL 


MR. waters’ theory. 

From her familiarity with it Mrs. Waters 
found no difficulty in effecting an entrance to the 
Percival house, though it had now been locked 
against all comers. 

“ For,” as Mrs. Lester explained to her old 
nurse, “ Pm trying to keep it from Helena, and 
she had her suspicions roused, early in the day, 
by the excitement in the servants’ quarters and 
the continual ringing of the bell. I’m hoping 
for the judge to arrive at any moment and he 
may decide it is best for her to be informed. In- 
deed, I suppose she must be, sooner or later, but 
I would rather he told her himself. Oh ! Waters, 
it is terrible ! All my sister’s plate, all our 
grandmother’s jewels, which came to Helena, you 

remember But there! I dare not think 

about it. I must keep calm, or as calm as I 
can.” 

“Miss Helena doesn’t know it yetf My 
sakes I ” 

“No. But she would have found out, except 
for that Dalton, the maid. I don’t like the 
288 


MR. WATERS' THEORY. 


289 


woman ; I have every reason to mistrust and dis- 
like her, but I must in all justice admit that she 
has been invaluable during this crisis. But 
where is your husband ? I’ve been wishing he 
would come, all morning. I should have sent 
for him, directly. I want to see him.” 

At this Mrs. Waters burst into a wail, that 
would have penetrated even to Mrs. Percival’s 
well-guarded apartments, had not Mrs. Lester 
promptly risen and shut the door. 

“Why, woman! What’s wrong? Nothing 
has happened to him, I hope.” 

“ Nothing happened. Miss Constance ! and him 
that broke and smashed up the doctor says it 
will be weeks before he’s out of the house, if he 
is again this winter, and we depending on his 
trade for our daily bread.” 

“ Come, Waters. Tell me. What is it?” 

The old familiar tone of command stemmed for 
an instant the overflow of the wife’s grief, and 
she told her story as briefly as it wa-s possible 
for her to tell any story : 

“ I was just taking my morning nap for reason 
of my lying awake half the night a waiting for 
Waters to come in and him not coming and my 
getting more and more worried all the time. 
And along about then comes a dreadful thump- 
ing: on the door and there was Waters’ brother, 
that’s on the ‘ force ’ a rapping like he’d burst 


290 


THE STORY OF DELIGHT. 


the panels in. So I gets up as soon as I could 
put on my clothes and opened it and there was 
him and another })oliceman a fetching in my 
poor man all stunneded like and his head cut 
open with something and him as stiff as a stark. 
The doctor sewed him up and left stuff and he’s 
come to and demanding to see you or Judge 
Percival instant. And me here a sitting gossip- 
ing and him all alone in the house. Unless one 
of the neighbors might have stuck her head in to 
inquire and if she had he’d a thrown something 
at her he’s that cross and so dreadfully ‘ want- 
ing to think.’ It all comes of him trying to play 
detective and his not knowing any more about it 
than a child unborn. And I hope it will be a 
lesson to ” 

“AVhere was he found?” finally Mrs. Lester 
succeeded in interrupting. 

“In the park. Not far from here. But what 
in the name of Waters he was a doing there 
beats me. And him a starting for Peach alley 
which is clean the other side the town. And 

there’s a woman in the case, and Oh ! my 

land ! ” 

Mrs. Waters herself, for once, cut short the 
flow of her own language, and stared into vacancy 
as if she saw ghosts. Her mouth gaped and her 
eyes snapped, and fearing the woman was going 
into a fit of some sort Mrs. Lester rose, laid a 


MR. WATERS' THEORY. 


291 


firm hand upon the nurse’s shoulder and shook 
her slightly. 

‘‘ Waters, what is it ? ” 

“What — what — was the name of that — that 
woman you’re finding so capable, Miss Con- 
stance ? ” 

“ Dalton. Why ? ” 

“Please put on your bonnet and come with 
me. No. You go and I’ll stay. Oh ! my land ! 
I don’t know what to do ! ” 

Mrs. Lester spoke, and sternly : 

“Waters, are you out of your mind? What 
ails you ? Is the trouble about your husband so 
great ? ” 

“ Trouble enough everywhere, it seems to me. 
And you all may be murdered in your beds, I 
mean in your chairs, seeing 3^ou’re up and dressed 
saving Miss Helena, who shouldn’t be in the 
clutches of that horrid creature not another in- 
stant ” 

“Look here, old friend. Was it anything 
about Dalton that your husband wished to see 
me, or the judge ? ” 

“ How can I say ? and him not telling his own 
lawful wife that’s served him faithful year in and 
year out.” 

“ Surely. As any good wife should,” com- 
mented Mrs. Lester, quietly. “ But I begin to 
understand. You’re afraid to have me go with 


292 


THE STORY OF DELIGHT. 


you and leave Helena alone with this person. 
Yet you’re afraid to leave your husband. Well, 
I’ll settle it. You stay here. Take olF your 
things and go up to sister’s room, just as you are 
accustomed to do, when you come to spend a 
morning with her, looking after her little affairs 
that she still thinks nobody can attend to as well 
as her old Waters. Put off any questions till the 
judge comes in ; I mean don’t answer, unless you 
are compelled. I will go to see 3^our husband, 
immediately, for it may be most important. It 
may — I do not say that it will — but he may need 
me on a business that will yet lead to his ap- 
pointment on ‘ the force. ’ ” 

This argument was effective. Besides, in her 
heart Mrs. Waters held the sisters, Constance 
and Helena, as her own daughters, though she 
stood rather more in awe of them than she might 
of such ; and she was to be trusted to be silent in 
this case, when so ordered. 

So in a very short time Mrs. Lester reached 
the cottage of her “ coachman,” and with a feel- 
ing that her sister had been left in safer hands 
than those of the efficient Dalton. 

Mr. Waters was awaiting her coming, and 
growing feverish with impatience. But his brain 
was clear and the relief of confiding in this sym- 
pathetic friend a great one. His first words, in an- 
swer to her knock upon the door, were to the point : 


3IR. WATERS;^ THEORY. 


29S 


“Come in, Mis’ Lester, don’t binder me no 
more. If I can’t tell you quick, I don’t know 
what will happen me ! ” 

“Tell, then. All you know and suspect.” 
“That Dalton woman is at the bottom of it. 
Or, she’s mixed up in it and works to orders, 1 
don’t know which. Anywise, she opened the 
door to them robbers and they’re her own hus- 
band and father-in-law. The men that robbed 
you are the men that had that girl. Delight, 
locked up. They’re a bad lot.” 

“ What ? you connect them with this affair ? ” 
“ Sure. Her, too. That woman, Dalton. I’ve 
thought it out. Wherever there’s been a big 
steal, in a long while back, it’s been at a house 
where that woman has been taking service. Be- 
sides, I went there. I followed them to the 
park near the judge’s. They must have seen me, 
or I blundered and made a noise, being so ex- 
cited. Anyway it was one, or both, of them that 
fixed me — and left me till my brother and his 
mate found me. She, Dalton, let them in or 
left the doors unlocked — locking them again in- 
side, as they were found, so my wife tells me. 
She told ’em where to lay their hands on every- 
thing they wanted. That old safe Avhere the 
diamonds were hadn’t any new-fashioned locks, 
had it ? ” 

“ Ho. It was one that used to be down in the 


294 


THE STORY OF DELIGHT. 


judge’s office. It was fireproof but not burglar- 
proof. Its key is a big, steel affair.” 

“ She found that and gave it to ’em. You tell 
the judge. lie better watch that house in Peach 
alley. Or have it searched : it would pay — 
though his stuff ain’t there yet. Keep your eye 
on Dalton. Sooner or later she and the men 
will have to meet and confab. You can track 
them through her. They’ll not be hard to find. 
If I was sound again ! Why — should I have had 
to go and get fixed this way just now ! It’s hard 
lines, ain’t it ? ” 

“ It may not be as bad as 3^ou think. Of 
course, it is exceedingly unfortunate that you 
have to suffer ; still, I believe that this informa- 
tion of yours will eventually put you on the 
‘force’ where you desire to be. I will hurry 
home now and hope the judge has come, so he 
can put the matter into motion at once. I want 
to watch Dalton, too, for myself. You know 
I’m a sort of assistant to 3"ou,” said the lady, 
merrily, and in the hope of cheering the injured 
man. “ So, good-bye, for the present. Mrs. 
Waters will come home right away; and if I 
were you I wouldn’t tell her what you think just 
yet — not just yet.” 

“ Catch me ! Thank you, ma’am. It’s done 
me a power of good.” 

Yet when Mrs. Lester returned to her sister's 


3IR. WATFAiS' THEORY. 


295 


house she found that fresh complications liad 
arisen. Dalton had gone out, immediately after 
her own dei)arture, and ostensibly taking advan- 
tage of Mrs. Waters’ presence in the invalid’s 
room---“ Who knows so well how to take care of 
you, dear Mrs. Percival,” she had remarked — 
and promising to return within a few minutes. 
But she had not kept her Avord. 


CHAPTER XXXIL 


CAPTAIN JIAKKIET’S LETTER. 

It is not often that the arrest of the culprits 
follow so fast upon the commission of their crime 
as it did in the case of the Daltons. 

Judge Percival was a man of wide experience 
and influence ; and, acting upon the information 
rendered by Mr. Waters, he had promptly put 
forces to work on the case which resulted most 
satisfactorily to the cause of justice. 

One thing, only, perplexed him. The woman, 
Dalton. 

On her behalf, Delight Roloson had gone to 
him and pleaded pardon and indulgence. 

“ Oh ! sir, if thee knew what it was to live in 
terror of thy life, continually, as she does ! She 
has had no training to do right. Ever. In her 
babyhood she was left at a foundling hospital, 
and she grew up — anyhow. She doesn’t want 
to be wicked. I don’t believe she does. It will 
be terrible — terrible — to shut her up behind iron 
bars for more years than she will probably live. 
If she promises to do right for always, after this, 
will thee not let her off ? ” 

“We cannot very well Met off’ anybody who 
296 


CAPTAIN HARRIET'S LETTER. 297 

lias not yet been taken. The two men are, I am 
thankful to say, safe behind bolt and bar ; and 
my property has all been recovered. So far so 
good.” Then the judge set himself to explain, 
reason, and as he fancied, convince the distressed 
girl, how much wiser it was to jmnish evil doers 
than to let -the innocent suffer because of them. 

“For every crime condoned or pardoned gives 
encouragement to future crimes. Besides, I can- 
not, even if I would, interfere with the course of 
the law whose majesty I am pledged to uphold.” 

With this the girl was obliged to be content; 
and she hardly knew how strongly she hoped 
that the missing accomplice of her captors would 
never be found. 

“ It seems to me that I should never know an- 
other happy moment if I thought of her shut up 
in a prison for life,” she complained to Mrs. 
Yanderhagen, as they sat quietly sewing in the 
lady’s pretty sitting-room. 

“Well, I don’t see any great sense of crying 
over something that isn’t — yet. Time enough to 
worry over that worthless creature when — they 
catch her,” said Maria, who had come to spend 
the day at the “great lady’s who’s taken our 
little Delight like a daughter ; ” and who, having 
ridden there “ in a carriage and pair,” now felt 
more “ set up ” than she had ever done, even at 
the “ Snuggery ” in the old peaceful days. 


298 


THE STORY OF DELIGHT. 


So they dropped the subject of the unhiip[>y 
fugitive, Dalton, and struck into that which was 
now uppermost in Maria’s mind, if not of De- 
light’s. 

“If that paper parchment is true. Well! I 
guess ! What’ll be the first thing thee does with 
the money, little Delight ? ” 

“ How can 1 tell, Maria ? Do the most good I 
can, I hope. But it’s like poor Dalton. It isn’t 
— caught, yet ! ” 

Mrs. Yanderhagen laughed; then sighed. 

“ I almost hope it isn’t true. Not that I wish 
anything but the greatest good to 3^ou, dear 
child ; only if that is what it may be I will have 
to lose you. ‘ Thee,’ I ‘had almost said, for 3^ou 
have made the plain speech so dear to me.” 

Delight laid down her needle and folded her 
hands. She had gro\vn to love this lonely rich 
woman with all her heart. It seemed to her, 
very often, as if God had sent her especially to 
make a daughter’s sunshine in this childless 
home ; for even she could see that the great 
mansion was a dilferent place from what it was 
when first she entered it. 

The weeks that had gone had but revealed to 
the Yanderhagens all the beauty and strength of 
the girl’s unspoiled nature, and they had let all 
their love flow out toward her ; though, it must 
be confessed, with little hope that would ever 


CAPTAIN HARRIET'S LETTER. 


299 


take the fixed place in their home that they still 
desired. 

The arrangement made between the lady and 
the ambitious girl still continued. Daily, Delight 
came at the hour appointed and though the deli- 
cate laces had long since been repaired there had 
always been found some fresh tasks to be accom- 
[)lished and for which she would take payment. 

More than that, Mrs. Yanderhagen had found 
other homes in which Delight could be similarly 
employed ; so that her earnings were now of 
considerable value to the household in Harmony 
street. 

“May be, dear Mrs. Yanderhagen, it will be 
the very thing will make the other thing easy. 
And did Mr. Yanderhagen say he would have 
time to talk with me on — business, if we stay till 
he comes in to-night ? ” 

“ Yes, dear. He not only will have time, he 
especially desires it. Indeed, there’s a lot of in- 
teresting facts come to light since you saw him 
last. So I’ve sent word to Harmony street, my- 
self, that you would remain ; and maybe George 
will himself come for 3^ou. I hope so. I like 
the lad.” 

“ Thee couldn’t help it if thee knew him really. 
He used to seem so silly but it was because he 
didn’t see the need of being anything else.” 

“Not a flattering compliment, Delight. Even 


300 


THE STORY OF DELIGHT. 


if a fellow does think he’s rich I don’t see why 
that need make him a fool,” declared Maria. 

“ Oh ! Maria ! Thee always puts thkm’s so 
oddly.” 

“ Humph. Hope I can call a spade a spade as 
long as I live. If they weren’t the simplest, fool- 
ishest lot of young folks, them Hudsons, when I 
first cast eyes on them, I’ll lose my guess. Say, 
Delight, did you tell, or show Mrs. Yander- 
hagen that letter of Captain Harriet’s ? ” 

“ Oh ! no. Strange that I should forget it. 
But I did. However, here it is, at last. Will 
thee read it, Mrs. Vanderhagen ? ” 

“ I’d rather ‘ thee’d ’ read it to me,” smiled the 
lady. 

So Delight began : 

“‘Dear and Respected Miss, My Little 
Delight : — AVe anchored at the old port all safe 
and sound. My sister Rachel is like a bird let 
out of a cage, for she forgets she’s rheumaticky 
and goes out roaming about the hilltop and down 
to the shore, and in and out of the houses she 
knew when she was a lass, and before she sailed 
away along of a man that used her none too well. 
However, let the dead rest. 

“ ‘ AVhich reminds me to say that the iron fence 
about Aunt Delight’s grave is as trig a piece of 
work as you ever dreamed of. It’s hard waiting 
for you to come home and see it, and all the folks 
who love you. But, in good time. All in good 


CAPTAIN HARRIET'S LETTER. 


301 


time. So be if that paper is as valuable as Dom- 
inie Babcock has read to me out of the paper as 
may be, I wonder my mate ever consented to 
g*ive it up. But he knew that he could never do 
aught with it himself. And I write these lines 
to let you know, and all concerned, that if his 
testimony is ever wanted to clear up the mystery 
heVI give it. He says no but I say yes; for 
though I don’t worry his steps I know that one 
sight of a lawyer will scare the truth out of him 
prompt. 

“ ‘ Little Amy is as happy as the day is long. 
Everybody here takes to her, and the more be- 
cause she is so full of talk about “ the pretty girl 
what got shut up and kept.” That made all 8ea- 
bury boil like water on unslaked lime. I had a 
to-do to keep dominie from setting olf instant to 
fetch you liome again ; but I held him back, be- 
cause when you do come we want it shall be of 
your own will and not no force. Come to stay. 
For it may be, it may be, as things are turning, 
that the “ Snuggery ” will yet shelter a Boloson 
again. God speed it. 

“ ‘ About the testimony ; it will be ready when 
it’s wanted. All Seabury township sends its best 
love, and no more at present from 

“ ‘ Your most obedient servant to command, 

“ ‘ Harriet Legg, Gravedigger.’ ” 

“That’s a fine letter for such an unlearned 
woman to write. I’d like Blasius to see it.” 

“ So he shall. Ah ! but it makes me hungry 
for old Seabury.” 

“ Aye, so it does ! ” echoed Maria. 


CHAPTEK XXXIIL 


GEORGE EXPLAINS SOME THINGS. 

“ Isn’t it just like a story book ! ” exclaimed 
Gladys, resting her elbows on the table and her 
chin in her palms, while she gazed reflectively 
upon the others in the group. 

It was the same group and the same room, 
into whose gloomy discontent Maria had hobbled 
on that Christmas eve, which now seemed so far 
in the past. Unlike then, the gas lights were 
cheerily blazing, there was the merry chatter of 
happy voices all around, and though the furni- 
ture was unchanged there had been gathered 
into the dull apartment the various personal 
trifles which gave it quite the air of a “ home 
room.” 

Through the now opened folding doors into 
the front parlor one could catch a glimpse of 
Mr. and Mrs. Hudson, with Maria peacefully 
rocking near them and talking glibly of old 
Seabury days ; a sort of talk that seemed to hold 
great interest for the world-weary invalid. He 
had so far recovered as to go about the house, 
and even, on fair days, to walk a few blocks out 
of doors. 

302 


GEORGE EXPLAINS S03IE THINGS. 


303 


But he would “ never again be the same man,” 
he complained ; and the doctor reluctantly 
agreed with this opinion. 

“ If you could get into the country to live I 
believe you would recover much of your former 
strength,” said the faithful physician, whose 
services had thus far been without remuneration 
but who relaxed them not one whit because of 
that. 

“ As well say that if I could go to the moon ! ” 
returned Mr. Hudson, fretfully. 

“Well, well, we must do the best we can, and 
you have still a deal to be thankful for.” 

“ Indeed, we have,” agreed Mrs. Hudson ; and 
on this evening there was, in truth, upon her own 
face an expression of far greater content than 
there had used to be when she had endured a 
ceaseless strain of living beyond her means, her 
strength, and her ability to “keep up with 
society.” 

“Well,” said George, in that little back room; 
“ I used to get very angry with you. Delight, 
and think you were a meddlesome body because 
you wouldn’t let me do — the only thing it seemed 
to me I could ever do. Do you remember that 
Christmas eve when things looked so black for 
us all ? > Hot even a decent dinner provided, and 
how I started and you followed ” 

“ George Hudson, you ought to tell us all, now, 


304 


THE STORY OF DELIGHT. 


what that meant. Delight never would and it 
seemed so queer that you and she should have 
any secrets between you, you were so unlike. 
What was it ? ” 

Hmm. Shall I tell, Delight ? ” 

“ That’s for thee to say,” she replied, but her 
cheek flushed and her head bent a bit lower over 
the bit of dainty embroidery she was doing. 

‘‘Well, I’ll out Avith it. Girls, do you know 
that your brother was once a gambler ? ” 

“ George — Hudson ! ” both sisters exclaimed in 
one hor rifled breath. 

“ You take it that way, too, do you ? I’m glad 
to know it ; rather surprised, maybe, because in 
the old days before the failure we had all been 
‘ gamblers.’ ” 

“ George !” again expostulated Gwendolyn, a 
frown gathering on her pretty face. “ I think 
it’s an odd subject you’v^e chosen to jest upon.’’ 

“ But, my dear Gwen, I am not jesting. I was 
never more serious in my life. Never. I tell 
you I’ve done a deal of thinking lately, and it 
Avas truly just that. To live as Ave lived was 
gambling, though it might haA^e been unconscious 
gambling on our parts. Yet it ought not to 
have been on mine. If I’d had half a spark of 
manhood then, in time — I might, I don’t say that 
I could — but I might have helped avert that fail- 
ure. If I had seen what I ought to have seen. 


GEORGE EXPLAINS SOME THINGS. 


306 


and said to father that I would put my own 
shoulder to the wheel and help ; and shown 
mamma just how things were going ; we might 
have stopped in time. Before we swamped not 
only ourselves but many others. Not the least 
of these — our ‘ little Delight,’ here. God bless 
her ! ” 

A silence such as does not often fall upon a 
circle of lively young folks fell now upon these ; 
and it was not till some moments had passed that 
Gladys again spoke : 

“ Tell us all about it, brother, please.” 

“ All right. A lot of us young fellows used to 
meet and play for stakes. Sometimes with cards, 
sometimes with dominoes — anything will answer 
to gamble with, for those who have the reckless 
craze of ‘ risk.’ ” 

“ Did you win ? ” 

“ Once in a while. Twice in a while, I lost ; 
however there was always the fascination of 
hoping to get something for nothing, or much 
for little. Fortunately, for me. Delight had a 
clearer vision than any of us. I suppose it may 
have been because she had lived more simply, 
but black never looked white to her. Not once. 
The way she used to talk to me, those first days 

after the failure, were enough ” 

George, I remember that I said very little. 
Thee is forgetting.” 


306 


THE STORY OF DELIGHT. 


“You said enough, in all conscience. One of 
your glances had a whole volume of sermons in 
it; and the intense surprise you showed that 
anybody, no matter how they had been brought 
up, could wish to ‘ live dishonestly ’ — for that 
was the flattering way you put it ! — made me 
feel about as small as a fellow could feel. Then 
that night when you got ahead of me, remem- 
ber ? ’’ 

“ Hmm. It seems to me that thy memory is 
much stronger than mine.’’ 

“All right. I’m glad it is. AYell, once you 
caught me unawares and made me promise I 
would never do so again. I was breaking my 
promise then, girls, when she ran after me and 
shamed me into coming back. ‘ Better all of us go 
dinnerless for all our lives,’ she said Ah ! I re- 

call every single word ! — ‘ Better go dinnerless all 
our lives than for thee to soil thy soul with a lie, 
a dislionored promise, or gamble. If thee is half 
the man thee ought to be at twenty thee’ll go 
out and earn thy dinner honestly, with spade 
and shovel if need be, rather than turn thy God- 
given manhood into tiiat despicable thing — a 
gambler ! ’ Those were her very words, girls ; 
but the flash of her eyes and the upward tilt of 
her expressive nose — I leave those to your im- 
agination.” 

Gwendolyn’s answer was to run and throw her 


GEORGE EXPLAINS SOME THINGS. 307 

arms about her cousin’s neck, crying and laugh- 
ing all together ; but in an impulse of gratitude 
for the influence Delight had used for her 
brother’s good. 

“ Hmm. There’s one thing about Delight that 
I’ve observed,” added Gladys, equally grateful 
though less demonstrative. “If she stops your 
going ahead in the wrong direction she gives you 
a good strong push in the right. . Just as soon as 
she got free from that dreadful Dalton gang she 
gets Mr. Yanderhagen to give you a regular 
position in his warehouse, at a decent salary. 
She works, too, every day and gives mamma the 
money, and between you two we are very com- 
fortable ; but — I wish I could help, too.” 

“ So thee does, Gladys, darling ! ” cried De- 
light, warmly. “ If it weren’t for thee what sort 
of comfort should we have here ? ” 

“ And now, young people, father and mother, 
too ; as well as Maria the Great. Attention ! I’ve 
a wonderful piece of news for you ! Hear ye, 
hear ye ! Do ye hear ? ” 

“ Fire ahead, George ! ” 

“ All right, Master Bertrand. It’s about that 
astonishing document that Delight has kept so 
securely in her hidden drawer of the famous 
Chest of Drawers ! Judge Percival, Mr. Vander- 
hagen, and others — including me — believe that 
tljere is so much probability of the- paper being a 


308 


THE STORY^ OF DELIGHT. 


genuine chart to a genuine fortune that they are 
actually going to lit out a small vessel and send 
it to explore ! Fact.” 

Eeally ? Eeally ! ” 

‘‘ Eeally. Truly. Undoubtedly. Oh! I’m 
as excited as you are. More ; because Mr. Yan- 
derhagen says he wants a scribe, a secretaiy, 
whom he can trust to accompany the expedition 
— consisting of one sloop, the Emily Jane., Dan- 
forth, skipper, and a crew of no matter how few. 
So I am to go, and write up the marvellous story ; 

and if it’s true and if I write it well Ah ! 

my dears 1 behold in your despised brother the 
Coming Journalist of the Twentieth Century ! ” 

“ Hurray ! ” cried Bertrand, suddenly. 

“ Hurray 1 ” echoed Gladys, catching her little 
brother and whirling him about. ‘‘ What if we 

find a gold mine ? What if But I forget. 

Whatever is found will be, of course. Delight’s. 
Well, I congratulate her.” 

“ And what is mine but thine ? ” asked the 
girl, gaily. “ Only — does thee suppose they will 
really find it ? ” 

“ Time will tell.” 


CHAPTER XXXIY. 


MARIA GETS A NEW TIN OVEN. 

“ Delight, do you know that I think there is 
a wonderful deal of quiet strength about that girl, 
Gwendolyn ? And womanliness. Yet my niece, 
Bessie Hooper, tells me that she used to be con- 
sidered a very silly girl. ” 

Delight looked up, suspended her needle in the 
air, and tossed her head gaily. 

“Bessie Hooper knew dear Gwen before she 
was developed. ” 

“ What do you mean, child ? ” 

Mrs. Yanderhagen also paused from her sew- 
ing to gaze upon the i)right face uplifted towards 
her own. A face which grew daily and even 
hourly, more dear to her. 

“Why, thee sees, that Gwen is a real kinder- 
gartner in spirit. Even though she may never 
have the chance to be one in reality. She be- 
lieves in development. She says that every soul 
is put into the world to grow. It’s God’s will 
that it should grow upward and outward like a 
beautiful plant, to perfection. A plant may not 
have room to grow, because it is crowded by 

309 


310 


THE STORY OF DELIGHT 


other things, and that was the way with her. 
She was born to live straight and fair, but for a 
time she was ben,t down by too much — Pshaw ! 
A plant doesn’t wear clothes, does it, so that 
simile had better be dropped. But Gwen wore 
clothes. Such a lot of them, and they requiring 
so much time and thought, they made her grow 
lop-sided. Also, there were late hours, social 
ambitions, nonsense of every sort. Then came 
the trouble, which she now says was the greatest 
blessing of her life. That brushed away all the 
hindering things and gave her light and room 
to grow upright, as was meant for her to do. 
Oh ! I can tell thee that there is a lot — in our 
Gwendolyn ; and she is so beautiful in her home, 
now. Bertrand almost adores her, for since she 
had time to ‘ bother with him’ she finds herself 
in such close sympathy with his child-heart that 
he is never so happy as in her society. If she 
weren’t his own sister and so entitled to his best 
love I should be jealous. In those first days at 
Argyle Terrace he was my own especial pet.” 

It was not often that Delight talked at such 
length. But Gwendolyn was now a favorite 
theme. She added, after a moment’s silence : 

“ I do wish, I do hope, she will have a chance, 
sometime, to take a regular course at a training 
school, so that she can fit herself wholly to 
‘ direct ’ a kindergarten of her own. If — my 


31 ARIA GETS A NEW TIN OVEN. 


311 


ship conies back laden with gold ! Oh ! how 
much there is to do with money in this world ! ” 

“ Yes, my dear. Well, IVe been thinking. If 
Gwendolyn wishes to take this course, I will ad- 
vance the means for her to do so. That, too, with- 
out waiting for any gold mines to be discovered. 
By the way, it’s a long time since we heard about 
our adventurers.” 

“No news is good news, Maria says. But, 
Mrs. Y anderhagen ! Please. Does thee think it 
would be right, right, for Gwen to run in debt in 
order to take that course ? That is if I am never 
able to help her ? ” 

“AYouldn’t it be debt, still, if you did help 
her?” 

“ Indeed, no. What do I want of money ex- 
cept for them and — everybody who needs it ? ” 

“Then I can say, decidedly, that there are 
times in our lives when it is not only right but 
most desirable that a debt should be incurred. 
Even in ordinary business affairs men are obliged 
to do this ; although, as far as may be, one should 
avoid debt as an almost crime. So with 
Gwendolyn. I would wholly disapprove of her 
running in debt for her clothes or her furniture, 
anything of that sort ; but if she is helped now 
to begin this course it would be wise for her to 
do so. Her life will be broadened, her usefulness 
increased, and this mortgage on her future \)vv- 


312 


THE STORY OF DELIGHT. 


fectly legitimate. When she is through and at- 
tains a paying position as director she can refund 
the expenditure easily enough. I wish you would 
suggest this to her, to-night. And now, my 
darling, are you not ready yet to say you will 
come and be our daughter ? ” 

“ 1 wish I could.” 

“Supposing this ship comes home to you, 
bringing good tidings ? then what ? ” 

“Would it be my own money, if they find it? 
My very own to do with as I chose ?” 

“Yes, dear. Your very, very own. You are 
the last of your race, the only heir to this ‘ Cap- 
tain Kidd ’ fortune — if it is ! I do not think any 
of your friends would oppose your doing all the 
good with it that you desire, provided that you 
yourself were not impoverished by it. You 
couldn’t be impoverished, you know, if you came 
to us. Besides, it is time, it is time, that your 
own education was proceeding regularly. Not 
in this haphazard, over- wearing way of night 
stud}?^ by yourself or with your equally untrained 
cousins.” 

“Ah! thee good, dear friend! Thee knows 
the weak spot, doesn’t thee ? ” 

“ I can make no impression on it if I do.” 

“ But thee can. Thee has. I haven’t even 
dared to let myself think about it, for it is too — 
wonderful and fascinating. Yet if the time does 


31 ARIA GETS A EEW TIN OVEN. 


313 


come when 1 can see that neither Maria, nor any 

of the Hudsons, needs me then I’ll ” 

“Hurrah ! Hurrah ! The Arabian Nights isn't 
in it with our inodern fairy tale ! For — ” cried 
a lad’s voice, triumphantly, and forgetting cere- 
mony in his excitement, as he burst into the 
bright room where Delight was doing her daily 
“ stint ” of needlework for Mrs. A^anderhagen. 

“ George ! Thee here ? ” 

“ Nowhere else ! ” 

Delight had sprung to greet her cousin, just 
returned, it seemed, from that strange voyage of 
his in pursuit of her unknown treasures, but as 
her hand touched his shoulder she saw behind 
him, approaching more slowly, a face she could 
remember from her very babyhood. 

“ Captain Danforth ! Captain Danforth ! ” 

She flew to him and clasped his weather-beaten 
face between her soft young palms, and not till 
then, with this home-friend restored to her, did 
she quite know how homesick she had been. 

“ Seabury ! Thee’s straight from Seabury ! I 
smell the sea in thy hair, thy clothes ! 1 do — I 

do ! ” 

“ From Seabury, sure enough, but I’ve travelled 
far enough inland, ’pears, to get salt water out o’ 
my beard. No? AVell, trust a Koloson to scent 
the brine, forever and a day ! And, lass, you’ve 
grown. Grown powerful. Strong and fine, but 


314 


THE STORY OF DELIGHT. 


—older, is it? Well. How the folks will laugh 
when the Emily Jane sails home again with you 
on board ! For you’ll go back by the sea-way, 
won’t you, lass ? ” 

“Aye! but I will? If — I may?” looking 
doubtfully around upon the company gathering 
there. Mr. Yanderhagen, beaming and genial, 
even beyond his wont. Judge Percival, the 

sweet “ woman in grey,” Gwendolyn, Gladys 

My ! what a goodly company. 

And on every face a smile for the girl who 
stood among them. Not because, by a romantic 
whirl of fortune, she was now an heiress in her 
own right, but because they loved her and re- 
joiced in her joy, since now she would be free to 
live out to the full the tender, generous impulses 
of her pure heart. 

“ Has the Emily Jane come home, then ? Suc- 
cessful ? ” she demanded, at length, holding the 
captain off and scrutinizing his honest face again 
and again. 

“ Come home, my dear, with a freight I’d 
rather have aboard than that old chest of drawers 
she carried away, along with you. Hello ! 
What’s this ? I’ve heard about this accident, but 
I never dreamt she’d get around so lively on her 
crutches as she does. Hello, Maria ! ” 

“ Hello, Stephen ! What’s the good word ? ” 

“ The last good word I heard,” said this hearty 


MARIA GETS A NEW TIN OVEN 


315 


and unabashed sailor, “ was that Captain Stephen 
Danforth had bought himself as good a new tin 
oven as he could find in Billstown. He’s set it 
up in his kitchen, but he can’t navigate it no- 
how. No more can Laddie. So that old salt 
has steered straight to Chester city in pursuit of 
a body that can. There ain’t but one on this 
terrestrial fit to handle such a tin oven as that 
is. She’s the one whose salt-rising bread beat 
all her neighbors’ and whose mince pies — umm. 
Say, Maria, when a woman is so faithful that she 
falls down and breaks herself into pieces, on be- 
half of her ‘ family,’ I ’low it’s time she started 
in on a family of her own. How’d Seabury town- 
ship look to you, Maria, about now *? ” 

“ Prime.” 

“ And the oven ? With Laddie and his daddy 
thrown in ? ” 

“To the oven? No, thank you. I’d rather 
throw in some of those pies you’re so hungry 
for.” 

“ Will you, then ?” 

“Yes; because my little Delight needs me no 
more.” 

Nobody had heard this dialogue, save its be- 
ginning and now its ending, which floated to 
Delight’s ears like the minor chord in some jubi- 
lant music. 

“ She will need thee forever and always, dear 


316 


THE STORY OF DELIGHT. 


Maria; but go thee back to Seabury with the 
captain and me! There 1 may have to leave 
thee, for a time, but there thee will always keep 
a home for the ‘ last of the liolosons,’ will thee 
not ? ” 

“ Aye, aye. So she shall. And now, lad, you, 
or somebody who’s had so much to say on our 
strange journey, tell the girl for whom it was 
undertaken, what’s happened. From first to last, 
tell it straight and short. And not the least 
marvellous thing about it is that it was Cap’n 
Steve Danforth and his Emily Jane that was 
hired to make the voyage. Glad to do it, he 
was! Free and willin’, and no wage paid ’cept 
to the crew, who ain’t forehanded, or even they’d 
never touched a cent.” 


CHAPTER XXXV. 


IN CAP AND GOWN. — CONCLUSION. 

One late summer afternoon “ Bachelor Jim ” 
had gone across to Esther Marlow’s little shop to 
talk it over once more, and for — nobody knows 
how many times. 

“ Seabury township doesn’t know itself. She’s 
gone clean crazy over all the wonderful happen- 
ings.” 

“ Wonderful, indeed. You were right, Jim. 
We didn’t need to go away from our old homes 
to have exciting things about us. Seems like 1 
can’t half believe it all yet.” 

“ ’Tis hard, I allow. But some of it’s too good 
for my deserts ; and that’s the part that’s bring- 
ing: Delight Roloson back to the home of her 
fathers.” 

“Isn’t it just grand? Well, she may be the 
last, but she’s by no means the least. Here comes 
old Margaret. I opine we’ll have to tell her the 
whole story from beginning to end. She said 
she’d heard ‘ sm itches ’ of it but the next time 
she saw you sitting in my front window she’d 
come across, straight. So I guess you’re in for a 
good bit of gossip, now.” 


317 


318 


THE STORY OF DELIGHT. 


“ It’s not I who minds gossiping on such a sub- 
ject. Good-day, Margaret.” 

“James Waterbury, what’s all this about a 
fortune coming to our Delight right out of the 
sea ? ” 

“ Out of the ground, Margaret. Out of a cave, 
in that ground.” 

“ Who put it there ? ” 

“ Her grandfather. Robert Roloson, son of 
Robert Roloson, skipper of the Fair Delight. 
Being in shipwreck and bringing home from a 
far port a store of gold, and a lot of papers that 
were worth much more than the gold. Indeed, 
there was less of that than folks hoped to find. 
Not so much, as folks count riches nowadays. 
But the papers more than make up. Deeds they 
are to unclaimed lands in the heart — it is now — 
of old Chester city. Worth their weight in gold, 
and more. Ten times more, I reckon. Worth 
enough, anyhow, to make our girl rich for life.” 

“ Couldn’t fall into better hands, young though 
she is. No, it couldn’t. I’ve known her from a 
babe.” 

“ Right, Margaret.” 

“But how comes Enoch Legg, and that rascal 
sailor Dan Dalton mixed up in it ? ” 

“ They were part of the crew of the Fair De- 
light. They helped the old captain to bury the 
box with the money and papers on that tiny 


IN CAP AND GOWN— CONCLUSION. 


319 


island off the east coast. So small, that island 
is, that it isn’t down on any chart going. In- 
deed, it was by accident the I^air Delight was 
washed against it and went to pieces there. 
They left her stranded and set off in the small 
boats, but only one of them ever reached port. 
The other, with Captain Kobert aboard, was 
never seen again. This one that had Legg and 
Dalton came safe to land.” 

“ Of course. Eogues always prosper.” 

‘‘ Not always, Margaret. Think over and see. 
After that shipwreck, there was nothing left in 
either of those sailors’ minds but finding the 
island again and stealing the money. Did they 
find it? You know, never. For years and years 
old Enoch sailed and sailed, but never touched 
its shore. He never had any luck either. Lost 
his ship and his child in the same business. 
Finally, cast anchor up on the hill, and will die 
in his bed — a deal too good a fortune for such a 
scamp.” 

“ But he didn’t steal the money ? ” 

“ No. He stole t\iQ parchm£nt that told where 
it was, though.- Which the captain made a map 
on and gave him when they parted company 
after the shipwreck. If he lived to get home the 
captain would not need the map. He could find 
and take care of his own, for he was a scholar 
and a navigator from way back. If Enoch came 


320 


THE STORY OF DELIGHT. 


out all right and the captain didn’t, he was to 
hand the property over to the Rolosons, and help 
them all he could. There were dark suspicions 
about him. Some say he helped to keep the 
small boat with Captain Kobert in it from ever 
reaching home. Be that as it may, Aunt De- 
light would never touch the parchment when he 
offered it to her, toward the last. But I suppose 
his conscience wouldn’t let him rest, so he thrust 
it upon little Delight.” 

“ And a good thing he did ! ” interjected Es- 
ther. 

“AYhat about Dan Dalton ? Where was he all 
this time ? That he didn’t make Enoch some 
trouble before the last ? ” 

“That’s easier asked than answered. Most 
likely, somewhere that he couldn’t help himself. 
He saw the insides of more prisons than one, I 
reckon. Maybe he forgot or had no means of 
searching. Most likely the last ; but his son, 
Pete, who is as bad as his sire, or worse, had 
been more successful. The police say he has 
robbed more houses than anv other man in the 
country, and he almost always got off well. 
Didn’t this last time, though.” 

“Was it his wife that was found wandering in 
the street ? that took such a cold she died from 
it ? ” 

“ Yes. Died in hospital, they say. Of pneu- 


IN CAP AND GOWN.— CONCLUSION. 321 

monia. And made as clean a confession as 
she had breath to make. A good thing for her 
she died as she did ; else she’d likely have spent 
her life in jail.” 

“ They say our little Delight actually cried 
over her.” 

“So she did. She’d cry over anybody that 
had one single streak of good in them. Even 
me ! ” laughed the happy cobbler. 

“ Dominie Babcock was saying there’d be great 
changes here soon.” 

“ Sure to be. Sure to be. Why, that J udge 
Percival, that held the mortgage on the ‘ Snug- 
gery,’ enough and more than to cover it, has 
given it to his wife to give to Delight, for them 
two to make a sort of children’s home for little 
things out of the slums of Chester city. Odd ! 
Part of Delight’s own land is that Peach alley 
where she was kept prisoner by old Dalton.” 

“ You don’t mean it ! Delight Koloson would 
never part with her old home while she could 
keep it ! ” exclaimed old Margaret, incredulously. 

“ Eight you are, granny. She wouldn’t. ‘ E^o,’ 
says she, ‘ that must always be in the family as 
it has always been. I’m going to get my cousins, 
the Hudsons, those of them who can, to move 
down there and live while I am at college. But 
there’s lots of land in Seabury township, Mrs. 
Percival,’ says she; ‘and it would be doing a 


322 


THE STORY OF DELIGHT. 


good deed if thee made the home just the same, 
if on another piece of ground.’ ” 

“ That’s good sense. Delight couldn’t but be 
sensible, coming of sensible stock as she does.” 

“ That’s the way it struck her city friends. 
And they do say that Seabury is going to be 
made all over. It’s been ‘discovered,’ so to 
speak. The Yanderhagens are going to build 
here, and put up a ‘ college annex ’ where over- 
worked students can have a real good time. 
There’s to be a school and kindergarten for the 
poor children out of Chester ; a hotel, the judge’s 
own house, a ‘ Sailors’ Kest,’ in memory of her 
sailor forefathers, built by Delight’s money; 
and Well, no end of all the glory to come.” 

“ Ah ! but the old days are gone,” sighed Es- 
ther, who had been touched into a bit of senti- 
ment by all this wonderful discourse. 

“ Let them go ! Let them go, I say. Look 
yon ! Do you see ? Why marvel and lament at 
any change that still leaves us our Delight? 
Why not up and follow in her progress ? See ? 
The darling. I begged her and she promised 
(and she has kept her promise). That she would 
put on that strange garb she calls her ‘ cap and 
gown,’ that she wears at that woman’s college, 
where she has begun to study. See her ? Com- 
ing down the hill, from the old ‘ God’s Acre,’ where 
her kinsfolk sleep — all, even to the last. Is she 


IN CAP AND GOWN— CONCLUSION. 323 

the less brave and bonny for all that ? No, I 
tell you. That’s little Delight. As true a type 
of an American girl as lives.” 

So they turned their faces upward toward their 
well-loved girl and saw her at the head of that 
rich company of her city friends who had come 
on a summer visit to the township where they 
hoped to make their homes, at least for a goodly 
part of each year. 

With her student’s cap set jauntily upon her 
golden curls, and her silk student’s gown sway- 
ing to the motion of her buoyant step, she smiles 
and advances to greet her poorer, yet even 
dearer, friends ; as simple, as true, as sincerely 
ambitious to make her name a synonym for her 
life as she was in the old days before all their 
great changes had come. 

She even runs down the last slope, with ex- 
tended hands, to meet old Margaret, leaning on 
her crutch. 

“ I was just thinking. Grandmother Margaret, 
how much better God knows than we do; just as 
auntie darling used to say. We thought it was 
the very wofullest thing that could be when I 
had to go away ; but He saw it was all for the 
best. I went with empty hands but I bring them 
back full, and all for those I love. I’ll tell thee 
one thing more. Grandmother Margaret. That 
is this : Not all the goodness nor lowliness be- 


324 


THE STORY OF DELIGHT. 


longs to the poor. There are as many gentle, 
unselfish, simple hearts in the big houses as in 
the cottages; and so thee’ll find out Avhen thee 
comes to know my new friends as well as thee 
does my old. I want Seabury to make them 
happy, and . give them the peace which is its 
charm. So, face thee about, grandmother, bob 
thy best courtesy, and say : ‘ God bless every- 
body ! ’ ” 


THE END. 






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